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Earthbound: The Rainbow Omen (RPG thread)

1. Only people whose signups have been accepted (see the Signup Thread) may post in this thread.

2. Remember to post your inventory at the bottom of every post. Failure to do so will result in me bugging you about it, or worse.

3. Post any questions or comments you have about the RPG in the Discussion Thread. Only story posts are allowed here.

4. Throughout the RPG, the links to the signups, this thread, and the Discussion Thread will stay in my signature! How convenient!

5. I expect you to check the Discussion Thread frequently for announcements and such.

6. Above all, have fun!

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Gon
Discovery, a modest city in Eagleland

The Tsukimaru household was quite a humble place, despite being in a city. It was on a block with a bunch of other houses that looked almost like it, but was the only house on that block whose backyard was completely devoid of trees. But the backyard's not even important, save for being the spot where the family gathered to view the Aurora Mysteria on the first night of its appearance. On this fine morning, the main place of importance is a bedroom whose window faces the street. The sun was shining through this window, touching the face of a 14-year-old boy sleeping on the bed.

When the bright light burned through his eyelids, he woke up, easing out of bed and doing his usual morning chores to get himself ready for the day. He had no need to change his clothes, for the clothes he wore throughout the day were perfectly comfortable to sleep in. Just some deodorant, a quick brushing of the hair and teeth, and a little bit of baby powder, and he was ready to go downstairs. As he approached the stairs, he paused at one particular door, gazing longingly at it.

Mariko-chan, wherefore art thou? Gon thought, remembering well the day he discovered that his little sister was missing.

His mum had already left for work, but his dad was still sitting at the dining room table, a newspaper next to an empty plate and a half-finished cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of him. Within a few minutes, Gon joined him, accompanied by a plate of pop-tarts and a cup of black tea. Looking out the window, he could see a woman being chased by a stray dog in the street. Apparently Dad saw it too, for it seemed to remind him of something.

"I tell you, this world is becoming weirder and weirder," Dad commented, poking at the large mole next to his nose. "With all these strange creatures attacking people, there is definitely a concern for the safety of everyone. Who knows, maybe... ARRGH!"

The tea kettle suddenly decided to spray Dad's face with hot water, leaving his left cheek blistered. Cursing under his breath, Dad got up and rushed over to the sink, turning the faucet on with the coldest water that could possibly come out of there. Then he stuck his head in the sink, tilting his burned cheek so that it received the falling water. Ahh, refreshing. Meanwhile, Gon took a look at the tea kettle, swearing that he spotted a pair of eyes on it. Cautiously, he stood up and crept on tiptoe toward the kettle.

Just then, a beep sounded from the living room. "Enraged Tea Kettle," spoke his smart phone.

In one swift motion, Gon grabbed the tea kettle by the handle, crossed the kitchen in a single bound, and opened the lid, dumping all the remaining water into the sink. As steam rose in front of him, he sighed.

"Don't you ever do that again," he threatened, pointing a finger at the tea kettle before putting it on the drying rack.

Gon returned to the table, his stomach growling on the way there. Just as he took his seat, his teacup jumped up and splashed its contents all over his shirt.

"Ow ow ow ow oww..." Gon jumped up in surprise, throwing his suddenly-very-hot-shirt off his torso. "Dammit, now I have to change my shirt..."

He ran up the stairs and dove for his dresser, pulling out a black T-shirt with a cute yellow star with eyes on it. It was one of his favourites--he remembered buying it at an anime convention he and Ari attended last year. They didn't bother cosplaying or anything, but they did buy quite a bit of stuff, and got to see Candy and Andy perform as well. Of course, Gon's favourite part of that whole convention was spending quality time with Ari. How he missed those days... especially with her having gone missing.

What could have happened to her? Gon thought as he put on the new shirt. I hope she wasn't kidnapped by the Starmen and... and here he gulped, ...experimented on... I-I just hope she's alright... I wonder if there's any way I can save her? I dunno if I can do much, but... nah, what am I thinking? I don't have any of those magical abilities that I hear some people have obtained. I'm no good at fighting these enemies... What, has the world become some video game I'm suddenly thrust into, unprepared? And what will attack me next? My notebook at school?

As Gon was about to take a step towards the door leading out of his room, a tiny little something darted in front of his face and stopped him... It was a dragonfly! But... how? Oh yeah, he left his window open a crack. But how did the dragonfly know to go through such a crack? At any rate, this dragonfly hovered right in front of Gon's face, beating its wings too fast to be observed, its orange-red body glistening like fire. Dragonflies like these used to appear en masse back in Robot City towards the end of summer, but right now it was the middle of spring. Why did a red dragonfly appear now?

"Yeah yeah, don't think too much about why I can talk," the dragonfly reassured. "But listen! Our world is in grave danger! The Aurora Mysteria is not just a pretty thing in the sky--it's a bad omen! The world needs your help!"

"My help?" Gon replied, pointing to himself. "I... I... I'm still figuring out how to deal with all these enemies that keep appearing! One of them just spilled hot tea all over me! And I don't have any... special abilities or anything... but wait! Do you know anything about where Ari could have gone? Ari is my little sister. She went missing and I... I wanna find her but..."

"Ding ding!" the dragonfly chimed, whizzing in a circle around Gon's head. "Help save the world from the terrible evil that befalls this world, and you shall find your 'Mariko-chan'!"

"Wait... how do you know her name?" Gon asked. "How long have you been watching me anyway?"

The dragonfly giggled. "Ohh, I know more about you than you think. Well, why don't you hurry downstairs and finish your breakfast? I'll be waiting on the living room lamp afterwards. I'll see to it that the lamp does not attack you. Oh, and you might want to make yourself some of your favourite Curry before you come."

That last part was already done; Mum had packed some for his school lunch. This time, Gon was able to finish his breakfast in peace (he decided to have orange juice instead of tea this time); by that time, Dad had gone back upstairs to gather some last-minute stuff for work. In a few minutes it would be time for Gon to wait for the school bus, to begin a day in his eighth-grade class that was more chaotic than it should have been, with all the new enemies around and a few random teenagers discovering they had psychic powers. Those two combined were never a good sign.

At last, Gon picked up his messenger bag and put on his sandals, entering the living room to find the dragonfly perched on the lamp as promised. While he was at it, he removed his smart phone from the coffee table; the screen was showing a picture of a tea kettle with an evil-looking pair of eyes on it. He put the phone in standby mode and stuffed it inside his bag. The weather in Discovery was predicted to be moderately chilly today, so he had his DCMC sweater in there as well. Gon never liked carrying a backpack; a messenger bag looked way cooler to him.

"Hey!" the dragonfly chirped. Gon turned his head to look. "Listen! Take all your school stuff out of your bag before you go! You won't be needing it!"

The dragonfly flew up to Gon and pressed its head against Gon's forehead. "Don't tell your dad this," it said in a whisper, "but don'tcha think saving the world is more important than school?"

"So... you're having me play hookey to do something I'm not even sure I'm capable of doing?"

The dragonfly grumbled and pulled back. "Look, just do what I say, or you'll never see Ari again! Now, go and fetch your bug net from the garage."

It seemed like a bizarre idea, but that dragonfly did have a point. Gon was already getting pretty good grades in school, so what was missing one homework assignment? And if the teachers punished him, they would probably take a dictionary to the head before they could do so, for all he knew. So with that, Gon took his huge binder and some pens out of his messenger bag, leaving only a notebook (which was half-filled with finished math problems) and a mechanical pencil as far as school stuff went. And he grabbed the bug net as the dragonfly instructed him to, figuring he could use it later to punish the dragonfly for being annoying.

At last Gon stood on the sidewalk, having said to his father that he was going to "check the mail really quick". The dragonfly few in front of him, looking towards a long stretch of street that ended at a liquor store at the end of the block.

"Listen!" the dragonfly called. "On the count of three, I will fly as fast as I can over towards that liquor store. What I want you to do is catch me in the net while I do so. It's simple. Got that?"

"Uh... okay," Gon shrugged, holding the bug net at the ready. "What, are you planning on carrying me down the street or something?"

The dragonfly giggled. "Hold on tight to the net now! 1, 2..." Then there was the longest pause ever; Gon's heart was actually racing at this point. "...3!"

On three, Gon raised his net right in front of the dragonfly. The dragonfly dashed forward with an incredible burst of speed, ramming right into the end of the net. But rather than stopping or going right through the end of the net, it flew with such force that it carried Gon right off his feet. All Gon could do was hold on to the net as hard as he could, feeling like he was flying along the sidewalk. Houses and trees whizzed past to his left; the street on the right was just a gray blur. And in front of him, the liquor store rapidly approached... Gon shut his eyes tight for a very painful impact.

Instead of an impact, Gon got the feeling that he was slowing down... and then stopped, landing smoothly with his feet on the ground. The unharmed and unphazed dragonfly flew out of the net and stretched its wings to make sure they were all right. Meanwhile, Gon looked around... and his jaw fell open. He was clearly not in Discovery anymore. Before him was some sort of village in a valley, an odd village with odd buildings. All the houses in this valley looked identical... well mostly. Gon caught a glimpse of part of a large steel building far ahead in the valley, hidden by a cliff. But all the other houses were remarkably short, only about a head taller than him. They had beige, circular walls and a little red door in front, and a brown cone-shaped roof with a red bowtie-shaped ribbon at the very top. Gon may very well have stumbled upon Munchkinland.

"oh hi ho," a voice called from somewhere. It was a very... nasal voice, carrying an indescribably strange accent. Looking around for the source of the voice, Gon eventually spotted a face appearing from the doorway of one of the houses.

Gon's eyes widened at what he saw. There in the doorway was a pink dome-shaped creature, looking to be just a bit higher than his knee. It had a face featuring little black eyes topped with thick eyebrows, and its round-ish nose was so large that it was nearly a third the size of its body. It had little whiskers on the sides of its face, two little pink feet for walking on, and a ribbon identical to the ones on the houses atop its head.

"other person no see in while, boing," the weird yet admittedly cute little creature spoke in that same nasal, oddly-accented voice. By that time, more creatures of the exact same appearance appeared out of the other houses. One of them was carrying a red balloon, apparently trying to use it to fly.

"Mr. Saturn?" Gon repeated, utterly befuddled by all these little pink things in cylindrical houses. He uttered a sheepish laugh and rubbed his hand against the back of his head. "Uh, wow, nice name! Maybe if you put rings around yourselves, you'll all look like Saturn! Erm, I'm... I'm Gon."

"you go away?" the balloon-holding Mr. Saturn squeaked--this must have been a younger one judging by its higher-pitched voice. It still carried the same accent though. "you like, no go so soon, zoom!"

"What!?" Gon was shocked. "I-I'm not going away! It's just that... oh. Hehheh. I see what you did there. I'm not gone--I mean my NAME is Gon. Erm--boing?"

"dakota!" all the Mr. Saturns chorused.

Gon took a nervous step backward. Man, these guys were strange. For now he turned to his dragonfly. "Are you sure we have to end up here?" he whispered, not wanting to offend the Mr. Saturns. "I mean, this is a really cool place, but why'd you bring me here anyway?"

"Look!" the dragonfly chirped cheerfully. "An important inventor lives here! He's a brilliant scientist--I'm sure you'll like him! He's been studying the Aurora Mysteria for quite some time, and thinks he has clues to what's going on!"

Before Gon could say another word, he heard strange whirrs around him--the same kind the thought he heard when the dragonfly slowed him to a stop. He wasn't the only person who had arrived here...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
^^ I promise, not all my posts will be as long as that was... My first post in an RPG is almost always long.

All right, now it's your turn to arrive in Saturn Valley! Basically you have to first find your favourite animal (or have it find you, more likely). Then the animal will teleport you to Saturn Valley. This teleportation works the same way as in Earthbound: it requires a running start across a relatively open space. The animal will move you faster and faster--it might sometimes make sudden turns to avoid obstacles in the way. At some critical speed, it will warp you to the desired location, then slow you down to a stop. Oh, and if you bump into an obstacle, you will feel dizzy for several seconds and will have to try again. And you have to be holding onto the animal in some way (using an intermediary object might be necessary if the animal is too small to grab onto, as in Gon's bug net) in order to have it teleport you. After you arrive in Saturn Valley, just... react to the Mr. Saturns. If you want, you can bunny the Mr. Saturns and have them greet your character and such--you might want to look at my most recent post in the Discussion Thread for info on their style of speech. Otherwise you can just interact with the other people that have already arrived (which so far is just Gon). No enemies will appear in Saturn Valley.

For those of you with water-dwelling favourite animals, you may benefit from this piece of information: There is a hot spring on a ledge in Saturn Valley. If you teleport into it, be careful not to land on any Mr. Saturns that may be resting in it.

A large village was a little busy today. But one house was almost silent, if you didn't count the small noises in front of it. The house was larger than the others, because it belonged to the village leaders, and an 18 year old girl.

Tekina slowly got up. On her window hook hung a necklace. The main part was the sacred jewel, Densetsu, a small and lovely golden orb

"Well,I guess I should-"

Suddenly, she heard a small voice. "Out here, Tekina. Look at the horse, and you will see me!"

The girl slowly turned to her window, and a large horse stood there. The animal has a pure white coat, with a golden mane and tail. It was beautiful.

"Who are you, and HOW CAN YOU TALK?" Tekina backed up a bit.

The horse shook her head. "Never mind that. What IS important is that our world is in danger! The Aurora Mysteria is a horrible omen! It is making regular items dangerous, and the Starmen are coming!"

Tekina thought and thought. If I don't go, my home will be destroyed. But if I do go, it could be prevented....

Then she looked up and nodded."I'll go!"

The horse beckoned her out. Quickly, Tekina put the necklace that held Densetsu around her neck, grabbed her small satchel, and went out the window onto the horse.

"Now what?"

"Now, we run."

The horse then went faster than any other horse Tekina ever saw. But soon, it felt slow, and a small whirr was heard.

Then they stopped, and Tekina looked around. Small, wierd creatures and strange houses were around her. The only things beside Tekina and the horse were a young boy and a dragonfly.

The horse looked at the girl and said "This is Saturn Valley. Those creatures are the Mr. Saturns." Tekina stared, then the horse added "There is also a great HUMAN scientist who lives here. He has been studing the Aurora Mysteria."

Tekina nodded, then walked over to the boy. When she knew he saw her, the girl said "Um........hi. My name is Tekina. And you are?"

Diego smiled as he finished the testing on his newest invention. A gauntlet that could be wound up and fired like a boxing glove on a spring. He tested it out as the metallic fist flew and smashed into the pile of scrap junk before it retreated back into the holding container and Diego was pleased as punch that it could be done over again.

He put it on as he packed his things. Like his tool kit, some extra pieces of clockwork, and some extra clothes; he packed it all into his large backpack. He had left his note. It was time to go back to Eagleland. Back to his old home his parents left for him. He was thankful for the professor and doctor for raising him when his parents died. Before he left, he caught a whiff of something.

It was pancakes, his favorite food. He saw a nice steaming pile on a plate. Beside it was a note: "So you always remember you have a home in Sunrise" Diego let a tear escape his eye as he began eating on the fluffy flapjacks. He ate three before putting the rest away and took it with him.

As he stepped out, he noticed it was kind of quiet. Actually, it really quiet. He looked up to see it was overcast. He saw something fly by.

It was a raven.

"Hello Diego," it spoke to him. Diego stopped and stared as the bird went and flew onto a cherry blossom tree. He knew ravens could imitate speech, but he sounds like he is actually talk.

"Do not speak for there is much to be said. Our world is in danger. The Aurora Mysteria is not a mere phenomenon of beauty. It is an omen. A cataclysmic omen. Around this world, objects are gaining malevolent sentience and worse, the Starmen are coming. Their intentions are ruthless." The raven spoke seriously.

Diego said nothing as he quickly digested the information. This no doubt had to do with the disappearances. Something evil was going down. And he was going to help stop it.

"All right, what do I do?" Diego asked. The bird flew to his shoulder. "I will begin flying down the road. You will run also. After a few seconds, you will grab onto me for dear life," it said.

Diego nodded and the bird begin flying. Diego began chasing after it as fast as he could. After a few seconds, Diego managed to grab the raven. Diego then felt as if they were moving impossibly fast.

But then, they slowed down quite before stopping. Diego tumbled and rolled to a stop. He looked around and jaw-dropped. Before him was some sort of village in a valley, an odd village with odd buildings. All the houses in this valley looked identical... well mostly. Diego caught a glimpse of part of a large steel building far ahead in the valley, hidden by a cliff. But all the other houses were remarkably short, only about a head taller than him. They had beige, circular walls and a little red door in front, and a brown cone-shaped roof with a red bowtie-shaped ribbon at the very top.

He saw creatures who resembled the buildings. He heard some talking in a somewhat nasal tone and an indescribably strange accent.

"Welcome to Saturn Valley, home of the Saturns," The raven said as he went back to Diego's shoulder. Diego smiled and waved to the Saturns before noticing two other people were there. A boy with a dragonfly and a girl with a horse.

"Hi everyone, my name is Diego. It looks like we were gathered for a reason," Diego said.

"Ooooh, this ramen is gonna be good" thought Kyornik as he dropped leaves of kale into the pot of boiling noodles on the chrome stove at his father's house. "Hmm, all this needs is some shrimp and it'd be perfect. Let's see if dad has any in the fridge." Just then, two small children walked into the kitchen. The boy, no older than 9, wearing a yellow shirt with a picture of spongebob in Khaki shorts and sandals grinned. He was a littler lighter complexion than kyornik. He looked up with his crooked teeth and short curly brown hair curiously. The girl was a much darker complexion, appearing no more than 7. She had her put into ponytails, a cute but chubby face with large dimples and an extra wide smile missing two bottom teeth. She wore a pink dress with white flowers, two small diamond stud earrings, and white sandals. These were Kyornik's little sister and brother from his dad's second marriage "What are you making?" asked Brandon. "Lunch of course. It's shrimp ramen with kale. Really good for you. You guys want some?" "No thanks" said Alana "Mommy is taking us to a pizza party for Jimmy the next door neighbor". Just then, there was an unlatching sound coming from the hand crafted cherry wood front door. "Brandon and Alana, time to go." Ok, coming" they said simultaneously. "Kyornik!" "Yes Sharleen". "Thanks again for watching the kids today while their school is being refurbished". "No problem". "What are your plans for the rest of the day?" "I'm about to head out. Class starts in a half and hour." "Well ok. Your father should be home a bit later". "Koolios". "All right, if you need us we'll be next door at the pizza party." "Ok... bye guys." "Bye" they all chimed simultaneously.

It was another HOT day in Summers. After Kyornik left his father's house, he walked down the boardwalk of the beach toward the Summers Branch of Reynard University. He looked out at the horizon admiring the shimmering waves, golden speckled sand, waving palm trees, and the beach breeze felt great. Windsurfers and and boaters thrashed around in the waves enjoying it to its fullest extent, while beachcombers tanned, flew kites, and played frisbee with their dogs. Flocks of sunburned tourists lined the beach and loitered around the ice cream shacks. Kids splished and splashed in the surf while some annoying kid cried because his ice cream fell. "Hey there, you want another ice cream?" Y.y.y.y.y uh-huh *sniff sniff*. "Here you go." Thanks a lot Mister he said as he hurried with with double chocolate chip cone beaming. Yeah, you guessed it. Kyornik's really a big sweetheart.

After the ice cream incident, Kyornik hurried and ran through the courtyard of Reynard University. At the center of the courtyard, was a fountain with the famous Winters scientist, Dr. Andonuts.He ran down the air conditioned filled corridors past the chemistry department and out of the East exit towards the bridge of the Marine Center's Lighthouse. "All right, I made it just in time. Hey Dr. Turner." "Good afternoon Kyornik it's time for the Bonus quiz." "Ok, let me just take my seat and............"

At that point, the most frightening thing to ever befall Kyornik started to happen. A massive earthquake shook the entire University to its core. "Quick everyone, under the desks!" Ordered Dr. Turner. There were large screams coming from all over the campus. Loud crashes, breaking of glass objects and echoing car alarms reverberated across the entire campus. The ceiling started to cave in smashing the tiles and knocking the animal collection jars all over the floor spilling its contents. The shelves fell over and the buzz from the fluorescent light were deafening. "Everyone head to the exit!!" screeched Dr. Turner. This was crazy. It was like the scene of a disaster movie but it was real. All to REAL!! His classmates made a B-line for the door. Get out of the way!! yelled his panicked classmates. Bottlenecks started to form in front of the doorways as more students rushed toward the 2 exits. The ceiling cracked resembling a giant fissure. The ceiling fan's wires split from the ceiling above and started to fall. "Lookout!" yelled a student. AAAAgh screamed some students when. "Kyornik!!....what is?!!!" yelled Dr. Turner. No time!! The psi bolts flashed furiously around Kyornik's head. His eyes glowed a ghostly blue while a mysterious wind seemed to blow around him making his hair wave. He wave his hand to the side sending the fan crashing through the window. "There's another exit! Move!!" Kyornik ordered. The students rushed and finally all of them managed to get out.

"What in the world is that?" asked Blake, One of Kyornik's friends and fellow classmates. Blake stood at 5 ft 10 in, a quarter of an inch shorter than Kyornik. His straight black hair swept across his brow similar to the waves he surfed. He is tanned and acquired a built stature from working out and frequent swimming. He wore silver sunglasses with a short sleeved Red Billabong t-shirt, Black skater shorts and brown flip flops with a Rasta colored string bag. He's the party surfer dude that Kyornik met in college. They're great pals and Kyornik frequently hangs out at the beach with him. "I'm not to sure honestly" He said, staring at his hands still flashing with psi bolts....."I've been able to do this for quite some time since the Aurora Mysteria occurred." "I...." "Holy CRAP!! Look out!!" Suddenly, Blake tackled Kyornik to the ground as a large window crashed to the ground. "What the heck man?!" "Look!!" What Kyornik was about to see both amazed and terrified him greatly. It was one thing to hear about inanimate objects coming to life, but to see it on a grand scale was horrifying. The very lighthouse next to the Marine Center Sprouted legs from the shore line and began to stand. It was immense and roared like an unearthly monster. The red flag atop its roof waving in the wind frantically. "Stop staring at it and move! We gotta get the hell outta here!" yelled Blake. Within the lighthouse, was a decorative ship anchor wrapped with yellow shipping rope that flew out of the empty window frame and struck Blake in the chest. "Blaaake!!" Kyornik rushed to his friends side. "Are you ok! Blake! Blaaake??!!" The anchor came flying at Kyornik once more. "Stop!!" Yelled Kyornik The aura surged around him and froze the anchor in place. The psi bolts spiraled around him and he slammed the anchor into the ground with a powerful wave of his hand. *Huh*..*huh*..*huh* Kyornik turned around while breathing heavily to help Blake, when the rope from the anchor wrapped around his right leg. AAAgh! he yelled and fell with a thud. The rope constricted his body tightly and the anchor started to rise out of the ground. "Let go of me!" Kyornik's eyes turned ghostly blue and the psi bolts flashed, but the rope started to constrict tighter and he couldn't focus from the pain. AAAAAAgh!! the anchor flew and embedded itself into a high wall on the light house while Kyornik dangled helplessly. "I'm gonna die. This can't be happening" he thought while wincing in pain from being constricted. The lighthouse used its legs to walk across the sea toward the beach pier. Kyornik could hear screams all around. The lighthouse was in the middle of the ocean.

News Helicopters buzzed and whirred all around the lighthouse. From the television cameras inside the helicopters, a blonde tanned female in a ruby red bikini with a white coat draped over her shoulder reported from the helicopter. She stood at 5 ft 7 slim but fit body, had a slender face with high cheek bones, Green eyes, long flowing beach blonde hair with natural beach curls and a small beauty mark on the side of her left nostril.This is Channel 777 News. I'm Heather Hartley reporting live from Summers where the Lighthouse of the esteemed Reynard University has come to life and is on the attack. Oh my gosh there seems to be someone dangling from the side of lighthouse. At that moment, a bright blue flash of light illuminated the sky. "What in the world is that?" yelled Heather The lighthouse immediately froze over and shattered into several pieces Aaaaaaagh! screamed Kyornik as he plummeted into the ocean. He tried again to use his powers to snap the frozen rope, but to no avail and he was sinking quickly. From the depths, a large object moved towards him and he was face to face with an orca. Something extra weird began to happen. Kyornik could feel the consciousness of the orca invading his. "Stop trying to fight it!!" Bellowed a powerful voice. The voice emanated from the orca. "How is this happening?" No time to explain grab a hold of my dorsal fin. The frozen ropes shattered and Kyornik grabbed a hold of the ebony fin. The orca swam down deep at at an increasing speed. The pressure increased as a rush of bubbles raced past his blurry vision. All of a sudden, everything seemed to warp and slow down. Time seemed to bend and shapes contorted into unnatural figures. As he was about to black out from the lack of oxygen, everything started to feel warm and the water took on a pink hue. He surfaced atop the orca. He fell off and swam to the shore and coughed profusely to expel the water from his lungs. When he opened his eyes, he saw a very strange creature that resembled a walking nose with a red bow. The creature looked at him and simply said "boing!" Kyornik raised his eyebrows in bewilderment and replied "What??"

Oh? What is this? Yako hasn't even gotten out of bed yet! Yes, for him, it is still the morning sleepytimes to which he dares not stir from, as he cannot tackle the beast of slumber while he is wide awake, yes? So then, what will wake him up? Not an alarm, no. That will not do. Yako does not hear the sound of a tree falling alone in the forest, so that too, is out. What then, would stir this beast from his slumber? What would tear him from his box-spring mattress, with a bed sheet for a blanket?

His Father, who rather promptly laid thick the family's special flavor of arboreal assault. Maple murder! Leafy lacerations! It'd wake you up, certainly. Getting smacked around with a tree. It hurt his face, but he was up! Definitely up! Stop beating on him!

He slogged out of bed and moved on to the shower to wake up, and he fell asleep a little bit in there. He had to peel himself off of the tiles, and soon he would be all nice and fresh, dressed for success! Sort of? Success enough. Whatever would pass for it. Yako grabbed his toothbrush and turned on the water to get to brushing now, having done everything else. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Except, for a moment, the water stopped. Yako looked to the sides of him, and almost missed the shark poke it's head out of the faucet! It roared at him, and soon, half of his body was engulfed by the monstrous, preposterous shark! And then Yako's world was swallowed in an inky darkness. Or at least, most of his torso. He could still kick about, but it didn't do much good.

Where did it go? Nobody knows! Or at least, Yako didn't. He spent most of his time in the shark's mouth, and only when he ended up in a hotspring, released from the shark's deadly grip on his body, did his brain catch up to him. He would spend a good few minutes thrashing about in the water, before the shark fin went under, disappearing into the vast pinkness of the hotsprings.

And there was Yako. He came crawling out, sprawling out on the ground, and spitting the pink liquid that could only be identified as a water of some sort, from his mouth, like a water fountain. How fortunate for him that his hair would stay in place. Didn't do him a whole lot of good, but at least he could take solace that his style can survive a shark attack. Had it attacked? He was still alive, after all. That was pretty cool, yeah. He liked still being alive. That was definitely a good thing. Yako thought so, anyway. He sincerely hoped that was a thing.

Yako punched himself in the shnozz. "Ow." He said to himself, before realizing that, if he were either dead or dreaming, he probably wouldn't've felt that.

He'd lay there and gurgle for a bit, before sitting up, sniffling a bit, and blowing his nose. "Bleuch!" He'd spit out, as though his words were on fire, before flopping back on his back. Leave 'em there for a bit. He has to register just exactly what happened. So for now, he would take stock, counting on his hands.

"Numero Uno. Woke up." So far, so good.
"Ssss-er, two. Took shower." Right, normal enough.
"Tree. Clothes." Can't run about naked.
"Fore. Brushed teeth." Dental hygiene is just as important as denim high-jeans. That's what his father told him, anyway.
"Fire-I mean five. Eaten by sudden shark from faucet." And would you believe it? Somewhere along the lines he ended up with seven fingers extended.
...
Maybe taking inventory would be a better investment at this time?

For the first time in her life, Gale woke up feeling alone. No matter how much she tried to tell herself that she was dreaming, she knew she wasn't. Pedro, the only family she had, was gone. She got up from her bed and shuffled towards her bathroom, taking a quick shower before wrapping herself with her crimson towel and heading for her window, flinging open the curtains as she did.

The aurora. Undulating with its rainbow colors for the fifth day already. Gale knew that a typical aurora lasted about an hour on average, certainly not five days and unwavering. Was it connected to the strange message she received two days ago? Pedro's disappearance?

She walked back to her closet and selected her clothes, changing before taking out her black leather jacket. She was going on a ride today, mainly to find Pedro. Pulling it on, she headed out of her room, took her shoulder bag, and strode down the corridor. To her relief, there was no cleaning maid roaming around yet. She quickly descended the wide staircase and ran towards the front doors. Unlocking it silently, she used both hands to push it open before exiting, closing the two halves behind her carefully, the cool wind meeting her. She headed towards the iron gates, reaching for the button that was going to open it, before she stopped.

What the-...

Sitting in the courtyard was a large wolf. Black-furred, with piercing icy blue eyes. Gale's eyes widened with shock.

"Gale, I've been waiting for you." It spoke, almost making Gale do a double-take. Since when did wolves talk?

"Listen, Gale. We don't have much time. The Aurora...don't be fooled by its beauty, it's an omen. A bad one. The Starmen, they're coming!" The wolf continued.

"Does this involve Pedro? Do you know where he is?" Gale asked, remembering her brother. The wolf shook its head.

"Pedro is but one of the unfortunate victims of this. Once the trouble is past, I am certain that you will see your brother again." The wolf replied, before getting on all fours and walking ahead of Gale.

"Come on, I'll lead the way. Just...get on me." It said as Gale pressed the button, opening the gate in the process. She then looked back at it, then shook her head.

"Wait a minute, you're shorter than me. How am I supposed to get on you?" She asked, studying it. The wolf was definitely much bigger than average, and looked strong. She was still worried however.

"Gale, I know how much you weigh, and I can assure you that I can handle you." The wolf said, reassuring the twenty-one-year-old, who raised an eyebrow, before bending down onto the wolf's back and encircling her arms around the wolf's torso, holding on to him.

"Now riding is out of the question." She commented, before the wolf took off. Its speed was nothing like she imagined. It was fast, very fast. It made her motorcycle almost seem like a snail. The wolf also wasn't lying. It was strong, like it promised.

After what seemed like a while, the wolf stopped, prompting Gale look up. She found herself in a different place. Definitely not Winters.

"Here we are...Saturn Valley." The wolf said as Gale removed her arms from around it and stood up. The place was rather peculiar, with buildings that were only a little taller than herself. There were also creatures...strange-looking ones. They looked like walking noses, and they spoke with a very nasal voice. Gale looked around, seeing that there were more people. A guy in pajamas accompanied by a dragonfly, an elegant girl with a horse, another guy with a raven. In the distance, she saw what seemed to be another person who somehow ended up in a spring, together with...an orca?

“So, let me get this straight. I’ve been transported by the telepathic orca over there to this Saturn Valley place, and you are a Mister Saturn??” asked Kyornik who was dripping wet from being inundated in the spring.
“are right you.”
Okay. Thanks again Mr.Orca, for saving me.
“My name is Atka” bellowed the beast
“I’m eternally grateful. Oh, Blake!! I’ve gotta get back to Summers. My friend was attacked by an anchor and was knocked unconscious… and my classmates?”
“Relax child. Trust that your friend is safe.”
“How can you be sure?!”
Atka cast a sharp glare at Kyornik, which signified his annoyance. Upon further inspection, Kyornik noticed that Atka was very large. Much larger than the 33ft of a typical male orca. His large jet black dorsal fin extended 7.5 feet high and he had unusual navy blue eyes.
“All right, I’ll take your word for it.” Kyornik could take a hint.
“Others must you meet” said the Mr. Saturn as it hopped down a ladder
“There are others?” Kyornik looked down the hill and saw a group of people each next to an animal. Hey, I think that’s Yako down there. “Haven’t seen him since I went back home for winter break”. Upon closer inspection, Kyornik also spotted a girl next to a wolf. “Hmmm, I think I’ve seen her from back home as well.”
I shall wait for you here in the springs. Seek me after your conversation with the others.
Kyornik made his way down the ladder following the Mr. Saturn to meet with the group

Yako was beside himself, but before then, he was beside a small, nose-like creature. He tilted his head to get a better look at it. He took his toothbrush out of his mouth, and it said "boing." To which, Yako would respond with "North." This was met with "dakota." So Yako squinted his eyes at the small creature and said "Car." The response? "Zoom." Yako sat up straight and looked down at the creature, his hands on his legs, as if he was about to get up. "...Girls."

"boing."

Yako was warming up to the small creature, hand he gave it a fistbump. Except it didn't have any hands, so he sort of just nudged it's nose. "We bros now." Yako beamed, before getting up and stretching, getting an appropriate eyeful of the scenery. Tiny houses, is what he found. Very tiny houses. Yako would attribute this to the very tiny people, and also that they seemed pretty far away. He looked around some more, and saw some people. Some he knew, some he didn't. Okay. Most, he didn't. He was born in Winters, sure, but he's lived a little bit of everywhere, and seen a whole lot of people before finally living in Eagleland, somewhere... Somewhere... Not here, clearly. At least there were trees. He could take comfort in knowing that there were still plenty of trees to wrestle. It did his heart good, knowing that there certainly was no shortage of trees about. Oh, don't tell me he's one of those retro new aged hippies! No, no way! He's got a toothbrush! He's set.

Not that he'd do that now. That'd be awful silly. He decided to jump down the little cliff below him, landing on his feet. Sort of. He brushed off idle bits of imaginary dust, and then went to check his hair, to make sure it was still slicked up in a spire. Pff, like that was going anywhere. He eventually made his way over to the group, giving a little wave and a-Oh what's that in his arm? It's his little bro, Mr. Saturn. Yako really seems to have taken a shining to it.

Alright, so Calvin had a bit of a long, music filled night, so he may take a couple minutes to get out of bed. He'd completely forgone his pajamas this time around, and just collapsed into his bed with only his boxers and a shirt on. Oh, and his hat too. Always forgot to take the thing off, even when inside. He'd just fall asleep with it on more often than one would think. Anyhow, Calvin was quite busy examining a bit of mold growing on his ceiling that he'd never noticed before. Many a sleepless night had been spent with eyes staring straight ahead, but only now did he notice the unsightly growth just above. Maybe it was a sign of something.

No no, that's a joke right there, mold being a sign of something. A joke to get himself by as his bare feet slapped against the freezing tile floor. He hauled himself to the kitchen as fast as his sleepy legs could bring him. The kitchen was completely empty of course, but the floors were still lined with white tile. Calvin, like any reasonable man, was in no mood to put up with cold feet this early in the morning, so he went into his living room and took part in his favorite time waster. Staring vacantly at the television set.

He fell onto the couch, tucking his feet under his body. With a quick swipe at the remote, the television flicked on. He glanced to couch before keeping his eyes fixed on the television. There was a slight indent of a body, place where Isabell had crashed for the night. Okay, it's Isa. She really hated her full name. Calvin glanced around quickly in the slightest chance that she could have left her guitar behind. When his search proved fruitless, he let himself sink deep into his super comfy couch, sighing softly in relief. Feels good, man.

An hour passed without much event. Calvin didnt move much from his position on the couch, and the programing on the telly was barely changed from the schedule of yesterday, or even the week before. Calvin didnt have to worry much about any family members finding him in such an embarrassingly vegetative state, cuz they just werent around to see it. His father was over in Eagleland, and his brother was probably at an overnight study group at the university (One that was probably still studying now). Calvin didnt mind their absence though, and not just because he was letting his brain bake in the oven of public access television. He figured it almost gave him access to the 'adult world' by being alone. Like a step into a post university existence, where your life depends on your work and you cant afford to have relationships. Maybe it gave him strength.

Now, if you're wondering what kind of work he could be doing watching public access, this is his designated day off. He worked his butt off all last night, and a man needs his rest every now and then, and this sparsely decorated living room is just the place to get it! Granted, he'll pick up the drum sticks and play again in a lil' while. Only natural for him. But for now... Brain burn time.

So enraptured is he by the flickering lights of the teevee produced, that he didnt notice a wee turtle crawling across his couch. Lil' guy went and slid down the indent Isabell left behind, but that wouldnt stop him. Not this turtle with a mission. It got a good distance toward Calvin in a short amount of time (That's a lie, he's a turtle) before he plopped down on the couch called out to the kid. As anyone would act when their name is called, Calvin looked up. Uhm.

He scanned the room, and found absolutely nothing out of place. Nothing. All of the nothing. Super nothing. The few picture frames on the walls remained undisturbed, the big, grey computer monitor against the wall was still plopped up on its desk next to his cell phone, and the sliding glass door was still shut and locked. He didnt know why he looked up in the first place, and began to ponder his choice of action... Then he went back to TV. Next noise he heard came from his lap, one which he ignored this time around. Then he heard it again, and it sounded vaguely like an old man clearing his dried throat. Little old men in your lap warrent a fellas attention, so he broke his gaze with the telly and slowly shifted his eyeballs to his lap, where he found... A turtle. Calvin blinked at it, and he could have sworn it blinked back. "This a bad time?" The turtle asked.

As polite as the turtle was, Calvin was only rude back, opting to let his eyes grow wide and lips attempt to form words he wasnt quite sure of. The turtle took his silence as a positive reaction and continued to speak. "Good then, right right. So. I'm assuming you're going to wonder why you can hear my voice. Assuming is the devil's work, so I'll cut that nonsense out right now. We have very little time, my friend, so lets get to business." The turtle cleared his throat again, giving Calvin a scant few seconds to speak. The turtles voice however, was far louder than the boy's, and quickly overrode his noisebox. "Gonna make this nice and simple for you. That light in the sky isnt friendly in the slightest and neither are those Starmen. Getting a few people together to stop them, and youuuu're one of the lucky few!" Calvin went to speak again, but the turtle interrupted. "You've been wondering why you can make the ground shake up, right? Well, there's your answer. You're a chosen one! Alright now, get your stuff ready, and lets go outside. Got a bit of ground to track and we have no time to waste." And with that, the turtles impatient speech had ended and he was in the process of turning his **** around and heading toward the door.

Calvin sat quietly, digesting what the little guy'd gone and babbled. He let himself think for a good few seconds before he conjured up the only proper answer. "What?" The turtle didnt seem to hear him. "What are you talking about?" Turtle gave him a grunt as he fell onto the couch. "You're gonna save the world, kiddo, pack your stuff." Calvin shook his head, lifting the turtle and placing him on the ground.
"This cant be right. You sure it isnt my neighbor?"
"Oh, positive."
"But why me? I cant save the world. I'm not even legal to drink."
"And that adds a new dimension to you!"
"But-ugh."
"Before you say anything else, call that girl of yours."
"Girl?"
"You know, the girl. What's her name. Allison."

Calvin suddenly became defensive, turning his eye on the teeny turquoise turtle. "...What does she have to do with this?" He took a step to the side, almost like he was circling the old turtle. He quickly realized how silly this was, since he's just a turtle, and wasnt even threatening Allison in the first place. "Just call her. You'll get a reason to save the world right there." Calvin stared at the turtle with suspicion before walking over to his phone, though he kept his eyes locked on the turtle. He called her once, twice, thrice, but gave up in the middle of his fourth try. "What happened to her? Where is she?" He asked with a sudden, unnatural authority. The turtle gave a turtly shrug. "Dont get mad at me kid, I have nothing to do with it. It's those STARMEN you're after. They're the kidnappers 'round here. Been doing it all over the world. Havent you heard about it on the news or something?"

Calvin shook his head, turning back to stare at the shimmering screen of his phone. They were both silent, Calvin in the midst of some intense contemplating and the turtle giving Calvin some contemplation time. Calvin squeezed the phone in his hand until it left marks in his palm. "This is crazy." He muttered. "This is all so crazy. You're a talking turtle, aliens are invading and this is just crazy." He brought his clenched phone up to his head. "You could be lying to me." The turtle get a chortle. "I wouldnt walk all this way to lie to you. It's good exercise and all, but I wouldnt stroll through those woods just to lie. That place is deathly." Calvin smiled and lowered his head. "Alright." He finally spoke up. "Alright, I'll do it." The turtle looked about ecstatic as a turtle could be. "Okay, this is good! Okay! You're gonna do it. You gonna save the world, and get the girl. YEAH." Calvin laughed, but it was mostly because the turtle had an old mans voice and he was talking so damn goofy. "Just give me a minute, gotta get my stuff." Calvin made his way toward the back of his house. The turtle wasnt pleased. Fact is, he was pleased as pungent puke. "WAIT THERE IS NO TIME, WHAT YOU HAVE IS ENOUGH."
"I need pants."
"Oh."

Five minutes later, Calvin met the turtle outside, ready and equipped for Starman smashing. The turtle looked him up and down before giving a nod of turtley approval. "Good good, you have your pants. It is cold, so your pants are probably necessary. Excellent. Now. Sit on my shell." Huh. Aint that an odd request. Calvin did the proper thing and gave the turtle a look of disbelief. "No, really. I can carry you. We gotta get to Saturn Valley, n' the only way there is by teleporting. And I can teleport you. SO GET ON MY BACK."

And so with great apprehension, Calvin did. He could only stand on the little fella with one foot, the other one waggling in the air like the tail on a dog. The turtle held his weight just as he said however, and began the march forward toward teleportation. It was terrible and didnt work. Like, at all. Calvin took quick notice of this, and made sure to turn his music down to speak. He thought some good bebop would kick the mood through the ceiling, but it only made Calvin feel silly. "Maybe we should try something different." Calvin plucked the turtle from the ground, pushed his hat back and the turtle had a new home. The turtle couldnt complain. "Now, just run. It'll work eventually, just run."

Calvin nodded an leveled his walking stick on his shoulder. He took a few quick steps as a startup, before breaking into a run. As he picked up speed, electricity sparked at his feet, and it was impossible to stop. Understandably, he started to freak out! That did him no good though, because in less than TWO seconds, Calvin had teleported outta Winters and into Saturn Valley.

The painful way.

Thankfully his face was there to catch his fall. The Mr. Saturns just sorta chilled out as this all went down though. Just how you teleport sometimes.

INVENTORY
Beat up old cricket bat/walking stick/thing (1x) (Went flying somewhere.)
Yellow backpack (1x) (Still on his back)
Hugely big headphones! (1x) (Was on his ears, now just on his head.)
Blue snow hat (1x) (This went flying)
Talking turtle (1x) (Wedged nicely into his hat)
Cellphone (1x) (Oh God, I dont even know.)
Drum stick (2 1/2x) (One broke in half, the other's totally gone. At least he can still play with half a stick.)

Diego looked around as everyone began introducing themselves. "Well it looks like we were all brought here for a reason," Diego said as the raven looked at the others on his perch, Diego's shoulders. Diego began looking at all the animals. Since ravens were his favorite animals, these must be everyone's favorite animals. he saw a dragonfly, a wolf, an orca, and all sorts of creatures. He looked around as some of the Mr. Saturns crowded around them. "From what I heard, this has to do with the Aurora going on, the Starmen and the disappearances," Diego said as his face turned serious. He looked at the gauntlet on his hand. He wondered about this place. Something within him, he felt there was something special about this place.

They all looked like nice people, though he seemed to be drawn the most to Gale. He walked up to her and looked at the wolf with interest. He then faced the large metallic structure in the distance. He wondered what was over there.

“Hello, I’m Kyornik Arrluk, nice to meet you Gale, Tekina, Diego and Gon. Yako and I need no introductions, since I’ve known him since we were little. He was always the tough guy that wrestled with trees. A lot of our classmates found him to be weird and a bit scary, but I always thought he was pretty cool. As for the wrestling trees, I always thought of it as his way of loving nature. I prefer to stare at the ocean, the moon, and listen to music during a rainstorm, but different strokes for different folks I guess. So, do any of you know what is going on?” *ACHOO!!*
“Gesundheit “ replied Gale.
“You should probably get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold.” Said Tekina.
“clothes give. me dry in zoom-zoom.”
Oh, Koolios *sniff* *sniff*

Kyornik followed the Saturn into its house. The house was surprisingly larger inside than it appeared outside with lots of beds.
What’s with all this room? You’re a pretty small uh……………organism”, said Kyornik after further analyzing the Saturn.
“me have big family. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,13 DAKOTA!! you put clothes here. robes in bathroom boing.”
Kyornik was puzzled. As he went to the bathroom to remove his wet clothes he saw a portrait of the Saturn and his family on an oddly shaped table. The table looked like an oval almost elongated shape of a Saturn with a single hair strand tied by a red bow near the end of it and it stood on 4 pink legs. The family was in front of the Hot springs that Atka brought Kyornik to. There were 15 in the portrait. The Saturn whom he was just talking to, what appeared to be a lady Saturn. He inferred from the yellow polka dotted skirt, lipstick on its lips, as well as the pearl necklace draped around…I guess you can consider it a neck and about 13 little Saturns. Seven were dressed in different colored baseball caps and the other 6 were in an assortment of different colored polka dotted skirts. “WOW” thought Kyornik. “He’s a really busy guy.”

After Kyornik stripped down to his birthday suit, and removed his headband he looked for a bathrobe to put on. He saw several small ones in assorted colors in a dirty bin.
“No way. Really! It had to be pink and fluffy??” On the rack, was a bathrobe that looked like it belonged to a normal sized person, but it was in a very HOT shade of fluffy pink, smelled of fresh fabric softener, and had fuzzy slippers to match. After putting on the robe with much disdain and apprehension and drying his hair with a nearby towel, he gave his clothes to the Mr. Saturn. He noticed the Saturn was wearing a stethoscope around his erm…….. neck.

As the Saturn put the clothes into the dryer, he noticed the curiosity in Kyornik’s eyes and answered, “me doctor. you come see”. The Saturn led kyornik into the living room. It was filled with wacky furniture. Majority of it had swirls and curls and many also had what appeared to be a single strand of hair with a red ribbon on it. The walls were covered with picture frames of Saturns. Many of them were of the little Saturns Kyornik assumed were the Doctor’s kids and also of Saturns with stethoscopes around their necks as well, treating other Saturns and even people. Kyornik saw several pictures. Some were of the family in Winters, Eagleland, and even a really funny one in an oasis of Scaraba. “Who’s this?”

One particularly old picture caught his eye. It was a kid in blue and yellow striped shirt, red shoes, blue shorts, and a red baseball cap turned sideways with 3 tufts of hair creeping out from underneath it. The kid was smiling while holding a Saturn in his hand and one on his baseball cap.
that ness. Friend of great great great great great great pa paps. he and friends save world long long ago.
“Wow” That’s pretty cool. Just then, Kyornik heard a terrible shriek reverberate within his head. AAAGH!! What was that?!"

Kyornik quickly ran out to locate the sound and was met with perplexed stares from everyone as he opened the door. Yako blurted out in laughter. “It was the only thing that was available in my size and was clean” he said embarrassed. “I should’ve stuck to my original plan and stayed inside until my clothes dried” he thought to himself. Did you guys hear that terrible shrieking?! Where did it come from. "What are you talking about?" asked Diego "there no shriek"said a little Saturn floating on a red balloon
All of a sudden, the door of the Doctor Saturn’s house swung open and that oddly shaped table Kyornik saw whinnied and reared up like a horse. “Watch out!! The table is alive!” yelled Gon. It's gotta be the work of the Aurora Mysteria, thought everyone. Yako immediately hopped onto the table and proceeded to wrestle it. The table however started kicking like a donkey and heaved Yako off of it sending him careening into a nearby hedge shaped like a Mr. Saturn. The table whinnied once more and charged towards the rest of the group.

Tekina stepped forward and yelled “Hi no maho!!” From her fingers, flames danced then erupted into a small stream of fire. “WOW, so these guys have powers too" thought Kyornik. The table jumped over the flaming stream and barreled towards the others once more. “Don’t come any closer!! PK wind!!” yelled Gale. Silver sparks glistened around Gale’s hands, and then a zephyr managed to push the table further slightly away. At this point, the table was very perturbed and galloped ferociously towards Kyornik.
“Back off!!” yelled Kyornik as his telekinetic powers activated. The psi bolt flashed around Kyornik’s head, and the table lifted into the air.

“You put table down now zoom-zoom!!” ordered Dr. Saturn as he emerged from his house
“But this table is alive!!” yelled Kyornik” It just attacked us!”
“table not attack. me sent table to run and zoom-zoom. it need exercise too."
Everyone stood and gave perplexed stares at the table floating in mid air struggling. "So this thing is your pet?" asked Kyornik. "family boing"
With that news, Kyornik released the table from his telekinetic grip and the table ran around wagging its... I'm gonna say tail.

Well, what was that noise I heard. The high pitched shriek sounded once again AAgh! Kyornik looked around, only now it sounded like it was coming from the hot springs. He bolted toward the ladder that led to the hot springs. What he found, was several Saturns swimming around in inner tubes drinking iced tea around Atka in the spring. Some even used him as their personal diving board. Atka proceeded to ask Kyornik what was wrong. “I heard this really sharp shrieking and came to investigate." It was me. Sorry, I was yawning". That's your yawn?!! "I'm assuming you were the only one to hear it correct?" "Now that you mention it, yeah".

Once Calvin found himself well acquainted with the ground, he parted ways and pushed himself to his feet. It only took several seconds for him to realize he was missing something incredibly important from his person, something that could very well determine the outcome of his entire life, become a rallying symbol for all other like minded folk, serve as a weapon against the ignorance of man and as a significant aphrodisiac in times of great love related need. His hat. That big, blue, fuzzy as a kitten snow hat. It's just that powerful. Turtle included. Luckily it didnt fly off too far, so as soon as he saw the thing, he practically jumped over to it and jammed it back on his head, turtle and all. What made him suddenly fall over himself with a yelp was where he FOUND his hat. Thing gone and landed right on the head of a Mr. Saturn. Body of a Mr. Saturn. I'm not so sure what you can call it. Neither could Calvin, but he was less preoccupied with the 'What?' and more with the "JESUS, WHAT!?". The Mr. Saturn looked up at Calvin and made a noise at him, one very similar to the noise Calvin had made when he'd crashed into the ground just a moment ago. If I had to describe this noise, it would be something like "Bomf".

"Huh." Calvin remained frozen where he sat, getting to his feet nice and slow as to not anger this bizarre creature. The Mr. Saturn made the noise again, keeping its thick eyebrows n' eyes set on Calvin. Calvin didnt know what to do, so he adjusted his headphones and turned to search for his phone. The sight that greeted him was more than just a surprise for him. Teeny lil' houses surrounded him, each with yellow, cone shaped roofs and single, black strands of hair popping out of the top with a neat lil' bow resting near the middle. Calvin's never been one for drugs of any kind. Hallucinogens, uppers, downers, narcotics anything like that, just never caught his interest, but by the looks of things here, he wouldnt be surprised if that turtle slipped something in him at one point or another. So flabbergasted was he, that Calvin didnt even hear the Mr. Saturn chirp a lil' "Bomf" a third time before. He started to run. The little guy ran around Calvin, picking up immense speed before... He was gone. And yknow how Calvin reacted to this? The same way he did to the rest of the village. Mouth ajar and painfully confused. He rubbed his face lightly, his red nose even redder than before. A bit of red trickled from one nostril, one he neglected to sniffle back up.

A few moments passed before a loud "BOMF" sounded off behind him, sounding something like the train colliding with a steel wall. The Mr. Saturn suddenly shot between his legs, skidding a halt infront of him. "Bomf." It repeated, and this time Calvin understood. Calvin kneeled by the Mr. Saturn and the two locked eyes, for what must have been a very intense few seconds. Calvin placed his hands on either side of the Mr. Saturn and stood up, turning the Saturn over in his hands. "Flying. Flying. Flying." The Saturn repeated every few seconds to no one in particular. Well. It didnt seem to mind being picked up, so yeah. After several full turns in his hands, Calvin came to his intellectual, well educated opinion, vocalized in a mumble. "I dont get it." At that moment, his turtle guide poked its head out from under his cap, a turtle that Calvin will refer to as "Mr. Exposition from now on for his handy bouts of information explanation.
"What you have in your hand is a 'Mr. Saturn', a local of this place, appropriately called Saturn Valley. They're quite friendly, if somewhat naive, so you can probably ask them for food and weapons and other cool stuff without having to question your conscience."
Calvin placed the Mr. Saturn on the ground, where it "BOMF"ed yet again. "I still dont get it..."
"Oh. Well hey, your phone's sharing a room with me right now, and there isnt enough space for both of us up here. Soooo..."
Calvin reached under his hat and VIOLA out came his phone. It didnt have a scratch on it. Lucky!

And not too far away was his criquet bat/converted walking stick! Excellent! And it was still in one piece! Double Excellent! Calvin tipped his hat up as he casually strolled over to his bat, leaning over to pick it up. His fingers barely brushed the handle before he stood up rigidly straight and turned to face the complete opposite direction. Calvin'd just noticed an old 'friend' of his from back in Winters, a certain Yako fella of large and tree lifting demeanor. He didnt know Yako from school, (Or maybe he did, Calvin doesnt pay attention to people) but he most certainly knew him from the woods. Was chased by said Yako as well. As funny as it seems in hindsight, it was really quite terrifying at the time. Trumpets pounding away at his ear as a tree trunk threatened to pound away at the rest of him doesnt provide one of the peaceful walks that Calvin desired so. Cool Cal' was in luck though, as Yako'd gone and joined a group of people all standing about and chatting. Whoo. No chance of being recognized. With his criquet bat in hand, Calvin fought with himself over wether he should join the group or not. Social behavior won out in the end however, and Calvin became part of a group, though he stood quietly on the fringes, examining the laces of his boots with great interest. Mr. Exposition prolly tried to get him to speak up, but there was little the turtle could do for him in that department.

Once Calvin found himself well acquainted with the ground, he parted ways and pushed himself to his feet. It only took several seconds for him to realize he was missing something incredibly important from his person, something that could very well determine the outcome of his entire life, become a rallying symbol for all other like minded folk, serve as a weapon against the ignorance of man and as a significant aphrodisiac in times of great love related need. His hat. That big, blue, fuzzy as a kitten snow hat. It's just that powerful. Turtle included. Luckily it didnt fly off too far, so as soon as he saw the thing, he practically jumped over to it and jammed it back on his head, turtle and all. What made him suddenly fall over himself with a yelp was where he FOUND his hat. Thing gone and landed right on the head of a Mr. Saturn. Body of a Mr. Saturn. I'm not so sure what you can call it. Neither could Calvin, but he was less preoccupied with the 'What?' and more with the "JESUS, WHAT!?". The Mr. Saturn looked up at Calvin and made a noise at him, one very similar to the noise Calvin had made when he'd crashed into the ground just a moment ago. If I had to describe this noise, it would be something like "Bomf".

"Huh." Calvin remained frozen where he sat, getting to his feet nice and slow as to not anger this bizarre creature. The Mr. Saturn made the noise again, keeping its thick eyebrows n' eyes set on Calvin. Calvin didnt know what to do, so he adjusted his headphones and turned to search for his phone. The sight that greeted him was more than just a surprise for him. Teeny lil' houses surrounded him, each with yellow, cone shaped roofs and single, black strands of hair popping out of the top with a neat lil' bow resting near the middle. Calvin's never been one for drugs of any kind. Hallucinogens, uppers, downers, narcotics anything like that, just never caught his interest, but by the looks of things here, he wouldnt be surprised if that turtle slipped something in him at one point or another. So flabbergasted was he, that Calvin didnt even hear the Mr. Saturn chirp a lil' "Bomf" a third time before. He started to run. The little guy ran around Calvin, picking up immense speed before... He was gone. And yknow how Calvin reacted to this? The same way he did to the rest of the village. Mouth ajar and painfully confused. He rubbed his face lightly, his red nose even redder than before. A bit of red trickled from one nostril, one he neglected to sniffle back up.

A few moments passed before a loud "BOMF" sounded off behind him, sounding something like the train colliding with a steel wall. The Mr. Saturn suddenly shot between his legs, skidding a halt infront of him. "Bomf." It repeated, and this time Calvin understood. Calvin kneeled by the Mr. Saturn and the two locked eyes, for what must have been a very intense few seconds. Calvin placed his hands on either side of the Mr. Saturn and stood up, turning the Saturn over in his hands. "Flying. Flying. Flying." The Saturn repeated every few seconds to no one in particular. Well. It didnt seem to mind being picked up, so yeah. After several full turns in his hands, Calvin came to his intellectual, well educated opinion, vocalized in a mumble. "I dont get it." At that moment, his turtle guide poked its head out from under his cap, a turtle that Calvin will refer to as "Mr. Exposition from now on for his handy bouts of information explanation.
"What you have in your hand is a 'Mr. Saturn', a local of this place, appropriately called Saturn Valley. They're quite friendly, if somewhat naive, so you can probably ask them for food and weapons and other cool stuff without having to question your conscience."
Calvin placed the Mr. Saturn on the ground, where it "BOMF"ed yet again. "I still dont get it..."
"Oh. Well hey, your phone's sharing a room with me right now, and there isnt enough space for both of us up here. Soooo..."
Calvin reached under his hat and VIOLA out came his phone. It didnt have a scratch on it. Lucky!

And not too far away was his criquet bat/converted walking stick! Excellent! And it was still in one piece! Double Excellent! Calvin tipped his hat up as he casually strolled over to his bat, leaning over to pick it up. His fingers barely brushed the handle before he stood up rigidly straight and turned to face the complete opposite direction. Calvin'd just noticed an old 'friend' of his from back in Winters, a certain Yako fella of large and tree lifting demeanor. He didnt know Yako from school, (Or maybe he did, Calvin doesnt pay attention to people) but he most certainly knew him from the woods. Was chased by said Yako as well. As funny as it seems in hindsight, it was really quite terrifying at the time. Trumpets pounding away at his ear as a tree trunk threatened to pound away at the rest of him doesnt provide one of the peaceful walks that Calvin desired so. Cool Cal' was in luck though, as Yako'd gone and joined a group of people all standing about and chatting. Whoo. No chance of being recognized. With his criquet bat in hand, Calvin fought with himself over wether he should join the group or not. Social behavior won out in the end however, and Calvin became part of a group, though he stood quietly on the fringes, examining the laces of his boots with great interest. Mr. Exposition prolly tried to get him to speak up, but there was little the turtle could do for him in that department.

Now, don't get me wrong. Yako wasn't beneath laughing at others, given that what he was laughing at was a dude in a fuzzy pink towel, and when a table starts bucking like a horse, you better believe he's gonna tackle it. Yet, Yako knows when he's been licked, and now was one of such times, as he pulled himself out of the hedge, and any bits of leaves from out of his hair. He dusted himself off, brushing off all the little bits of leaves and twigs that may have wanted to join him and adjusted his triangle sunglasses so they weren't all awkwardly positioned. He didn't rightfully know what possessed him to tackle a table, but whatever it was, certainly won no brownie points. He'd walk right back to the group and-OH WAIT! What was this? It's that one kid he used to chase down in Winters!

Oh.

Oh this is too good.

Yako proceeded to walk right up to him and, with tact and grace, do absolutely nothing! Really? Yes. He didn't see any reason to do anything, so what he did was a whole lot of nothing! It's logical, that is! Oh, I suppose he'd give a "Hi. M'name's Yako. I just wrassled a table." and stick his hand out in greeting. Why not? The kid looked down, and Calvin wasn't on his home turf, so there's no reason to chase 'em down with a tree. Right now, anyway. Maybe later if the need arises, but for now, the need demanded that he say hi to 'em and his little hat turtle.

Where was the shark that took him here? Who knows? I'd stay away from the coffee though, if I were you.

OOC: Nice job with your first posts, everyone! I really hate to sound like I'm picking on coolminun here, but please, watch your bunnying. Especially the kind that involves other people attacking a table. I love what you did with the Dr. Saturn though!

I'm glad y'all are having fun with your conversations and all, especially y'all Winters folks, but time-a round up the characters and get the plot rollin' round here!

IC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All was happy in Saturn Valley. The Mr. Saturns certainly had a new form of amusement: guests! They didn't seem to act too excited though. They behaved just as their usual, quirky yet calm and passive selves. And the worst thing any of these visitors did to any of them was pick one up. One even managed to get itself trapped inside someone's hat. Fun. The hot spring was now the site of a party, featuring iced tea and a killer whale dolphin, the latter making this a killer party indeed. And another Mr. Saturn was kind enough to give its pink bathrobe to someone. Aww.

In the midst of all this, Gon was simply greeting everyone as they entered Saturn Valley. He didn't quite know what was going on, but he guessed that everyone was just as confused about this situation as he was. Except for a few people who apparently knew each other already. What was this weird place anyway? Whatever it was, Gon was certainly a little happier to be here than in school. And the other people here--Gale, Diego, and Tekina at least--seemed nicer than his average classmate. He had to agree with Diego's notion that everyone was gathered here for a reason, but just what could that reason be?

Before Gon--or anyone for that matter--could ponder this further, all attention in Saturn Valley (well, most of it anyway) focused on a white-haired man in a lab coat who was now running through the valley, dodging any Mr. Saturns in the way with ease. His eyes would have conveyed a look of frustration, but nobody could see his eyes behind those round glasses of his. Though his hair was white, he didn't look that old, judging by the lack of wrinkles on his face. His very thick white moustache probably hid any that were there anyway. But that's not the point. The point is that he was quite clearly flustered. After running around frantically for a while, he stopped right next to the horsey-table-thingy.

"Whoa, boy," he squeaked. "No need to get over-excited at our new visitors, boing! Oh deary me!" His voice was a bit more high-pitched than some might have expected, and he came off as a bit nervous yet awkwardly... cheerful. The table took a couple of excited jumps at the sight of him, leaping up on its hind legs and landing on its front first. Then it trotted back inside the house it came out of.

The skittish scientist then turned to address the group. "My my, it's not that often that we get visitors here! Do mind my red-ribboned companions here--they have a tendency to be nosy, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I was just coming out here to look for my--oh! You found it!"

Looking right at Kyornik, he reached a hand out towards the pink-bathrobed boy.

"The Mr. Saturns are peaceful creatures, but they have been known to do slightly naughty things to me in their understandable boredom. One of them just took off with my new bathrobe! Ah well, sometimes the fun times never change, I suppose."
A few Mr. Saturns were staring at him at this point.
"...Oh, r-r-right," he muttered, nervously adjusting his glasses. "All this talk and I haven't yet introduced myself. Er-hem. I am Dr. Andonuts. I have lived quite peacefully in Saturn Valley for quite some time, performing research in my laboratory." He gestured at the large steel building at the end of the valley. "Research dedicated to making all living things happy," he added as a Mr. Saturn leapt into his arms.

"However," and the Mr. Saturn leapt right out and boinged along its way on the grass, "sometimes, in my still-remotely-panicked state, I can't help but monitor the world for anything that might seem amiss. So when I detected particulate disturbances in a pattern in the sky, I... daresay I feared the worst, based on what I found. This Aurora Mysteria has never been seen here in Saturn Valley, which is probably why this place has remained as peaceful as it ever was. Instead it... yes?"

At that point he looked down at his feet--a Mr. Saturn was tugging on his trouser leg with its... own legs. Feet. Someding ding. Gah, now I'm doing it too!

"Ah," Dr. Andonuts announced, readdressing the group. "You can plainly see that my recent lack of interaction with other people has deprived me of my hospitality. The Mr. Saturns are very good with hospitality themselves, so perhaps I found it unnecessary to practice it myself. Well then, why don't you all come with me to my lab. The fact that you are all here with those animals could only mean one thing--a thing that has quite a story behind it."

* * *

On the way to the lab, Gon decided to walk alongside Tekina, having suddenly taken on an interest in her for some strange reason. The fiery-red dragonfly remained perched on his shoulder, not seeming too moved by anything that had occurred thus far. It was just a fly on a wall, if shoulders had walls.

"So, Tekina, was it?" Gon asked her. "That's a rather interesting name. You're not from Sakura, by any chance? I used to live in Robot City, which would technically make me your rival of sorts if that were true." He put on a sheepish smile. "Erm... yeah. ...Dakota."

How many more people will catch Saturn Syndrome before they reach the lab? You have to admit that anything small, pink, round, and cute can be addicting.

* * *

The inside of the steel building at the end of Saturn Valley (which, by the way, looked like a large steel version of the Mr. Saturns' houses) looked like, well, the inside of a steel building. With steel walls. Despite this, the interior managed to be at a comfortable temperature. Everyone gathered around a coffee table that looked exactly like the one that burst out of the Saturn house earlier, except just as the Mr. Saturn from before assured, this one didn't move. And this time, the coffee table was appropriately called so, for a large pot of coffee sat on this table, along with several mugs featuring seemingly random designs, a pitcher of cream, and a bowl of sugar. And a plate of what looked like pink tofu.

"welcome is to have some zoom," a nearby Mr. Saturn said to everyone.

Though there were two sofas for people to sit on, at that point a bunch of lawn chairs walked into the area from a stairway leading who-knew-where. They arranged themselves in a haphazard circle around the coffee table and unfolded. Dr. Andonuts introduced them as one of his newest inventions, explaining that they were handy if one spontaneously needed a seat.

"I was just working on how to get them to teleport when my meteorological devices detected the presence of the Aurora Mysteria," he was explaining.

As Gon looked around this room further, he noticed a few things. First, near the stairway the walking chairs came out of was some sort of metal capsule nearly as tall as a person, with a few short pipe segments sprouting out of it at various places. What did that do? A few Mr. Saturns were ambling around the area--one of them was trying to open a door, but couldn't grab the handle after jumping up to reach it. Eventually Dr. Andonuts found this Mr. Saturn and muttered "not yet" to it. And finally, a picture on a nearby desk caught Gon's attention. A picture of three boys and a girl. One of the boys wore a red baseball cap, another wore glasses, and another had a ponytail and wore some sort of karate outfit. The girl had curly blond hair and wore a red ribbon, quite similar to the one the Mr. Saturns wore. Dr. Andonuts eyed this picture eith a sigh, seeming rather sad for a moment.

Done looking, Gon picked up a spoon and tried a tiny piece of that pink tofu stuff on the table. It had the feel and texture of tofu... but it tasted like strawberries. Weird.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOC: Gah, I wanted to post more than this... but it's 2AM where I am, and I still have class tomorrow. Dr. Andonuts is about to tell everyone something important, so it might be wise to stay in the lab for now. I'll do another post within the next couple of days, as a continuation of this...

Tekina listened to Dr. Andonuts carefully. Of course, her parents have been studing it as well. But every thought of her parents made her think of her sister, Shurui. The sister had gone missing, like many others. But Tekina has been devistated. Even when she got over it, a little bit of her mind made her think of Shurui whenever Tekina thought of her family.

Once they started walking, Tekina blushed when Gon came over. "N-no. I'm from one of, you know, those 'special towns'. I'm from Kaishi Village."

When they got in, Tekina sat down hext to Gon. However, she was still thinking of poor lost Shurui. Theirs was right near a window, so the horse stuck her head in so she could listen as well. Tekina smield a bit before wondering again: Is Shurui okay?

AND I AM THE MOST DERP GURL, YOU HAVE EVER SEEN

Did u know that if you put your finger in your ear and move it up and down, it sounds like Pacman?

When Kyornik entered the lab with the others, he was wowed by the equipment at the Dr's disposal. As a guy from Winters and a student of Reynard University, he knew a great deal about Dr. Andonut's work and especially how famous Dr. Andonuts was. Dr. Andonut's was the one of the many prides of his Country, so by just being in the same room with him humbled Kyornik greatly.

As kyornik came near the coffee table and saw the chairs make their way into the room, he panicked for a second. Had it not been for Dr. Andonut's sudden explanation that they were his latest creation, Kyornik would have attacked them. As the chairs stopped and formed a circle around the coffee table, Kyornik was reluctant to sit on it but he did. Seeing the uneasiness in his eyes, "Gon asked What's wrong?" Nothing I guess. Almost had a repeat of the table incident with these chairs. "It's really not that bad. At home, I have to deal with our tea pot throwing scalding tea on my dad and I. It hurts like the dickens and having to change clothes again before school is annoying, but it is manageable."

I guess for you it is, but it isn't for me. I've heard about inanimate objects coming to life on the news, but I never saw it for myself until today. it was the most terrifying experience I've had in my life. My friend was injured by the anchor from the lighthouse at my school and I was also attacked. being constricted by its rope, and then being carried around in the air to be left dangling upside down several meters from the ground lodged in the back of a walking lighthouse that roared like an unearthly beast, isn't normal. I really could have died today. If it hadn't been for Atka, I don't know what would've happened.

"Wow, that's rough, but the important thing is you didn't die. I've never been through anything like that, but think of this as motivation to save the world. Whatever the Mysteria is, it is clearly having an effect on our world and we've been chosen to stop it from happening. My sister Ari is missing, and it seems the starmen of the Mysteria have something to do with it." "Sorry to hear about that man." "Yeah, but I do feel better for having left home and school to investigate it. It beats worrying about it all the time."Be strong man. You'll find her." "Thanks, I really hope so." "Nah, I should be thanking you. I mean, we still don't know all the details as to what's happening, but you helped me find some motivation to tackle this. Thanks." "Kyornik extended his fist for a fist bump. Gon stared down at the extended fist then met kyornik's gesture with a smile. "Sure." *fist bump*

"Oh, that reminds me. Gale and Tekina you girls have powers just like I do. I heard you two yell something before you performed your abilities, and so i wanted to ask what was that chant and what exactly are these powers".

"Well, started Gale I've heard people refer to it as psychokinesis or Psi/PK for short. It's a form of psychic power that manifests into various forms. Mines takes on the form of wind manipulation and is aptly named Pk wind."

"Where I come from, it a skill only a few can wield. It draws on our inner strength and is released in full force when we chant its name. In my language, my power's name is Hi no maho. When translated into your language it would be called Pk fire. Yours on the other hand stems from the same source but works as a different manifestation. You use your inner energy to surround and move objects. We call this technique Ora no maho or Pk aura."

"Hmm, so that's what it's called. Pk aura" said Kyornik as he stared at his hands with new determination.

Diego's eyes widened when he saw who the old man was. It was Dr. Andonuts. He was a highly-respected person in the scientific community. The professor and doctor would always talk about his amazing accomplishments. He and the group followed him to his home, which was the large metal building. Diego stood close to Gale though. "So um Gale, where is it that you come from?" Diego asked her as he walked beside her. Everyone gathered around a coffee table that looked exactly like the one that burst out of the Saturn house earlier, except just as the Mr. Saturn from before assured, this one didn't move. And this time, the coffee table was appropriately called so, for a large pot of coffee sat on this table, along with several mugs featuring seemingly random designs, a pitcher of cream, and a bowl of sugar. And a plate of what looked like pink tofu.

"welcome is to have some zoom," a nearby Mr. Saturn said to everyone.

Though there were two sofas for people to sit on, at that point a bunch of lawn chairs walked into the area from a stairway leading who-knew-where. They arranged themselves in a haphazard circle around the coffee table and unfolded. Dr. Andonuts introduced them as one of his newest inventions, explaining that they were handy if one spontaneously needed a seat.

"I was just working on how to get them to teleport when my meteorological devices detected the presence of the Aurora Mysteria," he was explaining.
Diego looked around the room and noticed all of the high-tech equipment. However, it was a picture on a nearby desk taht caught his attentioon. A picture of three boys and a girl. One of the boys wore a red baseball cap, another wore glasses, and another had a ponytail and wore some sort of karate outfit. The girl had curly blond hair and wore a red bow. Dr. Andonuts eyed this picture with a sigh, seeming rather sad for a moment. Diego looked at the picture. Something about those 4 kids seemed... not familiar, but something about that was special about this kids.

Diego sat down near Gale and tried the tofu-like substance. It was alright, like strawberries, but he had his flapjacks. But he will save those for later. Meanwhile, he then heard the term PK. Wait a minute...

"WOAH, rewind and remix. PK? As in PSI?" Diego asked. So it was true. Diego then took a deep breath. He felt terrified and relieved. Terrified because there was real danger had DX taken over and used Mad PSI. Relieved because not only did he have large potential, but he also manage to successfully stop him. Cool.

As Gale followed the others into the lab, she walked by the Diego guy, who was accompanied by a raven. Evidently a native of Quetzal. Her own father was half-Quetzal himself.

"So um Gale, where is it that you come from?" The guy asked. Aww, he was a bit shy?

"Winters. Nieve to be exact. Quetzal word for 'snow', makes sense considering there's a shitload of Quetzals around there. I should know, my dad's half-Quetzal." She replied, stroking Diego's face with two of her fingers rather shamelessly. Rather soft and chubby, but very cute, in her opinion. She used both her fingers to pinch his cheek lightly, before chuckling to herself.

Inside the large metal building, Gale noticed that it wasn't as weird as she thought it would be. There was a coffee table, some food, some sofas, as well as some...lawn chairs. Gale blinked at the sight. Now that was unexpected.

"Welcome is to have some zoom." A Mr. Saturn greeted. Gale proceeded to one of the lawn chairs, sat down and leaned back, taking off her leather jacket as she did. The temperature was surprisingly comfortable for a steel building.

"I was just working on how to get them to teleport when my meteorological devices detected the presence of the Aurora Mysteria." The man known as Dr. Andonuts explained, before he eyed a picture sadly. It had four people, three guys and one girl, none of them familiar to Gale.

She directed her attention at the food. It looked like tofu, which made Gale rather queasy. She wasn't a fan of tofu, she was a seafood kind of girl after all. Then she saw the rest starting to eat. Taking up her fork, she gingerly sliced off a bit, before slowly putting it in her mouth, ready to gag.

OOC: Alrighty, time to get the plot moving, boing! (Gah, not again...) Pay close attention now, as you are about to be given a mission.

@coolminun: Watch your bunnying.

@Zekshirom and Jean Grey: Inventory, please.

Also, here's a Fun Fact: The Strawberry Tofu mentioned at the end of my last post (I see a few of you were brave enough to try it) is actually a food item that is sold in a shop in Saturn Valley in Mother 3. It appears to be a delicacy among the Mr. Saturns. Oh and while we're on the subject, I thought I'd share a Saturn Valley theme. And another Saturn Valley theme. A little late, I know, but...

IC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dr. Andonuts' Lab

After everyone sat down in either the sofa or the moving lawn chairs, Dr. Andonuts took a few minutes to pace back and forth in front of a blackboard on the wall, thinking about precisely what to say. This gave the group a few minutes to have further conversation...

"WOAH, rewind and remix," Diego blurted during the discussion. "PK? As in PSI?"

"Uh, yeah," Gon replied, leaning in closer to the young man from Quetzal. "Didn't you hear the news reports? The Aurora Mysteria has caused several people to be suddenly able to use PSI. I looked up an online article about it just a few days after the aurora appeared, and apparently it's been a myth for ages. It wouldn't be any surprise if the Starmen could use PSI as well--they could've used it to kidnap all those people. Speaking of which, Tekina, I know how you feel about losing your sister. The same thing happened to me--my little sister, Ari, vanished just recently as well."

After speaking, Gon took out his smart phone again, pulling up the Enemy Index app. As there were no enemies around, this app showed nothing, except the words "No Enemy Found" on the screen. Apparently the coffee table that went wild earlier wasn't an enemy.

* * *

"Er-hem." At long last, Dr. Andonuts finally made his announcement. As everyone turned their attention to him, they noticed that he had drawn something on the blackboard: a picture of a Starman.

"I'm sure you have all heard the announcements regarding these," said the inventor, indicating his Starman drawing. "Believe it or not, I've seen these Starmen before, a long time ago. The Aurora Mysteria was a peculiar occurrence, but it didn't cause me much worry until the Starmen arrived. Because you see, a profound evil force overtook the world in the past, and these Starmen appeared to be its underlings. In fact, a couple of you have been wondering about this picture on my desk..." He indicated the picture of the three boys and the girl. "These four kids were the ones responsible for destroying this unspeakable evil force." He seemed to shudder at the mention of such an evil force, afraid to speak its name if it had one.

"In fact," Dr. Andonuts continued, "three of them were able to use PSI. The fourth... the fourth was my son Jeff, who, well..." He couldn't say any more about his missing son--a tear ran down his cheek at the mention of him, and a Mr. Saturn prompty handed him a tissue. "A-a-anyway, I find it curious that you all appeared here in the middle of this confounding conundrum. It almost makes me wonder if destiny had something in store for all of you in relation to the aurora's appearance. Of course, because I am a scientist, I am skeptical of destiny being the only factor at work here. In the past it seemed to be friendship that tied the four "chosen ones" together, but I doubt you know each other hardly at all, do you? However, the fact that you all arrived here with animals may have something to do with it... These animals are not your pets, I presume?"

There was much head-shaking in the audience.

"Hmm, curious indeed. Well anyway, while I was doing my research on the Aurora Mysteria, one thing came to my attention, and this blackboard will not suffice at all for this..."

Instead he flipped what looked like a light switch on the side of the blackboard. Rather than turn any lights on or off, it flipped the blackboard around, revealing a computer screen on the other side. Opening a small hidden drawer just underneath the screen, he took out a remote control, pressing a few buttons on it. The screen displayed what appeared to be a map of the world, showing all seven continents and their relative positions and sizes. Eagleland looked almost as big as all the other countries put together; the other countries were positioned around it like the planets in a map of the solar system. But it didn't show just the continents. First, there were cloud-like shapes appearing over several of the countries, making it look like a meteorological map showing precipitation patterns. Additionally, on each continent there was an icon depicting a gear, each of a different colour.

Meanwhile, Dr. Andonuts was reaching inside the largest drawer in his desk, taking out what looked like a miniature treasure chest.
"You see these cloudlike patterns?" he pointed out, pointing to areas of the map. "This shows how much aurora activity has been seen in one night. You'll notice that sometimes the activity is scattered pretty evenly throughout the world, as in this figure, which is for the first night of the aurora." Upon closer inspection, the words "Night 1" appeared in tiny text at the top of the screen. "However, on this second night," and here the screen changed to show a different cloud pattern, "the activity seemed to be mostly concentrated in one particular region, in this case Winters, and Quetzal on the following night. On Night 4 we have a more even distribution once more, though there is a tiny concentrated patch in the Fourside region, which coincides with the disappearance of President Sanford." This last bit was indicated by a bright red dot in the middle of Eagleland, while the rest of the "clouds" were a more even green in colour.

"Now, what is this box, may you ask?" Here he looked down on the little treasure chest, which was about half the size of a typical shoebox. Opening the latch in front of the lid, he showed the contents to the group. There were no contents. The box was empty.

"Though it doesn't look to be much, this used to be a music box. It was given as a present to me long ago by the mother of this boy, Ness, the main hero who stopped the evil force that plagued our world so long ago." He pointed at the red-capped boy in the picture on his desk. "I have no idea why she gave it to me, but I never considered to be of any significance until just recently, when a Starman stole it from me. However, it didn't steal the whole music box--just the parts inside of it. What significance does this have to the Aurora Mysteria? I'm not quite sure if there is any, but the fact that a Starman stole the parts of a perfectly ordinary and uninteresting music box must make it important in some way."

"Oh yes, back to the map. Here is last night's Aurora Mysteria activity, Night 5."
This map showed some dark green patches all over the world, but there were some bright yellow and even red regions in Quetzal. Granted, one yellow blotch was there ever since UFO's were seen around the rainforest, but last night had much more aurora activity there than usual, especially in an area somewhere south of the rainforest.
"There has been much correlation between the aurora activity in an area and the number and strength of enemies that appear there the following day. This leads me to believe that the Aurora Mysteria exerts some sort of evil influence on the world. In fact, it's an influence that's seeming very similar to what Ness and his friends had to face long ago, as I've heard reports of familiar enemies from that era. If that is true, we might have another Cosmic Destroyer on our hands, just like the one Ness and friends defeated so long ago. It seems unlikely to me that history will repeat itself in this way, and even less likely that there could possibly be another Cosmic Destroyer like the last one, but anything is possible I suppose. It is possible, even, that the Starmen may be trying to bring back this Cosmic Destroyer. ...That is just a guess though, to be taken with a grain of sugar... I mean salt."

"Finally, you may have noticed the seven gear icons that I placed on the map. I... don't know what these are. They may be something that's linked to the fate of this world, or they may be entirely insignificant. They appear to indicate objects that give off their own unique energy, an energy that appears to be quite different from the Aurora Mysteria. And look, one of them is in the same region of Quetzal as where all the aurora activity was last night. There seems to be one for each continent. Hmm. I know that when Ness and friends were on their adventure in the past, there existed these sacred places called Sanctuaries, and they had to gather power from all of these places to unlock the key to defeating that Cosmic Destroyer. This could be something similar to that, who knows?"

At that point Dr. Andonuts felt another tug on his trouser leg.
"sky runner launch for ready," the Mr. Saturn informed him. "set course for quetzal, zoom. i pilot." This Mr. Saturn wore a pair of goggles on his head, indicating that he very well could be a pilot. But what of? At any rate, Dr. Andonuts acknowledged this message with a nod of the head, then returned to his announcement.

"I think the logical thing to do right now is to investigate just what is going on south of the Quetzal rainforest. ...I would go investigate this, but as you can plainly see, I am not a fighter. I would much rather stay here in Saturn Valley, where it's safe. Given what has happened to me in the past, I'm not taking my chances with anyone of evil intention anymore. I've been coerced to do evil things in the past, and I don't want it to happen again... erm... Oh, right! You see that metal door that Mr. Saturn is standing next to?" The metal door, which was right next to the strange tall oval device Gon saw before, had a Mr. Saturn standing nearby--he waved at the group with his little pink foot. "You'll find some equipment there in that closet, which might be useful in fighting off any enemies that will most certainly appear in Quetzal. As far as I know, that area is home to many fields and tropical gardens, so I imagine many of the enemies will be plant or insect-based. That's just a guess though. When all of you are ready, you may follow Pilot Saturn and me upstairs into the launch room, where the Skyrunner Mark II will depart from. I'm pretty sure there's room enough in it for all of you, as long as you don't bring any of those animals with you. Since they can teleport, I'm sure they'll be able to find you again no matter where you go. I think they only know how to teleport to Saturn Valley and your current location."

"Oh, and I would also like to speak with Diego and Gon while you all are browsing the shed."

You may take one of the following items from the closet if you like:
- Baseball bat (x2) - One wooden, one hollow metal one
- Frying pan (x1) - Apparently Paula, the girl in the picture, gave it to Dr. Andonuts when she didn't need it anymore.
- Whip (x1) - I will resist the temptation to quote a DEVO song here.
- Bug zapper (x1) - A fly swatter that emits a small electric shock
- Clawed knuckles (x2) - Fits over all the knuckles of one hand, so you can imitate a cat or even Wolverine in battle.
- Can of spray paint (x5) - Available in any colour of your choice, except blue. Can blind an enemy if sprayed in the eyes.
- Yo-yo (x3) - You'll be popular among Rapstarr fans if you carry one of these.
- Air horn (x2) - Avoid using these during stealth missions.
- Kitchen knife (x3) - Careful, people will think you're a gangster if you brandish it at them!
- Mr. Saturn (x1) - It's advised that Yako doesn't pick up an extra one.

Yes, these items have limited quantities. You may not take an item if all of that item have been taken by other people. Gon and Diego are not allowed to take items from the closet until my next post, so they will get the last picks. But they get something else good instead! Be sure to include these items in your inventory if you pick one up--though you don't need to include my descriptions of these items of course.

* * *

Whew, that was a long announcement, but it did have some good info. Uneven Aurora Mysteria activity, a universal cosmic destroyer that Ness and friends destroyed a long time ago, the Starmen being underlings of said destroyer, connection between the aurora and enemy appearances, an empty music box, seven mysterious spots on the globe, trouble in Quetzal... what was going on in this world? Dr. Andonuts certainly seemed nervous to talk about it all--it even seemed to Gon that he was hiding some other valuable piece of information, perhaps something he was afraid to reveal. The pieces didn't seem to quite fit together or make much sense, but alas, not even a brilliant scientist like Dr. Andonuts can know absolutely everything about the world.

It seemed to Gon that every person in this room (besides Dr. Andonuts, obviously) was one of the new "chosen ones" to stop whatever was behind the Aurora Mysteria. Perhaps in the process they would also be able to free the missing people, like Ari and Shurui and Magic and President Sanford. The question was, where were all the missing people? Gon hoped that something in Quetzal would offer the clue to that. Speaking of which, Gon's ears perked up at the mention of the "Skyrunner Mark II". It sounded like some sort of aircraft. But what kind of aircraft?

That answer was revealed to not only Gon, but Diego as well, soon enough. While everyone else was looking around the closet, Dr. Andonuts led Gon and Diego along a steep flight of stairs leading up to the second floor. This led to what looked like a control room, with all the computers and control boards and miscellaneous gadgets scattered about. But Gon wasn't looking at any of these. Instead he was looking out a large window which offered a view of the launch pad. Sitting in this spacious room was what something that sort of looked like a flying saucer, except it was oval-shaped and relatively flat. It was currently "standing" on the launch pad with its six legs, and there was a ramp on the bottom which led through a door on its underside. It had round windows around its perimeter, and a rim with some sort of weird glass-like material on the underside. Otherwise the Skyrunner Mark II had an entirely metal body, painted white on the main body and sky blue on the underside and rim. One rectangular window on one of the ends indicated where the cockpit probably was. Presently Pilot Saturn was walking into the skyrunner, apparently to perform a system check on it.

Dr. Andonuts turned on the lights in the control room and started booting up the computers. At last he turned to face Gon and Diego.

"I brought you two here first because I have something special to give to both of you." He took a quick glance over his shoulder. "First to Diego, since these computers are still booting up. So, Diego, I hear you are skilled with clockwork, eh? Ah, it brings back memories of when I watched young Jeff tinkering with gadgets in a similar fashion..." He sighed. "Well anyway, it is because of your expertise with simple mechanical gadgets, especially those involving gears, that I wanted to entrust you with this."

He handed Diego the empty music box he had shown to everyone before. Additionally, he handed him a couple of little gears that he had been keeping as spare parts for it. "It is my hope that if and when you all find the pieces of this music box, that you will be able to put it back together. When you do, I'd like to hear it play once more."

Dr. Andonuts took another look over his shoulder. "Oh, here we go, that's what I need. Gon, come with me."

Gon followed him first to a drawer, from which he withdrew a couple of wires. Walking over to one of the computers, he attached one end of one of the wires into one of the ports on that computer. After a close inspection of the other end, he browsed around on the computer until he opened up a certain file. Then he turned to Gon.

"So Gon, I see you are quite the computer wizard. Or smart phone wizard, should I specifically say. What I have here is a small update to your Enemy Index, which will list every enemy you have encountered so far. I also have a new app I can put on your phone, one which will display the most recent activities of the Aurora Mysteria, much like what I showed on the screen earlier. It'd be a good idea to keep a close watch on it at night. Unfortunately, there isn't enough space on this app for displaying information about previous nights, nor a zoom feature. But I hope it will prove useful nevertheless."

"Hmm, that sounds interesting," Gon remarked. By now his dragonfly had flown off to who knew where. "Only question is, will these cables fit into my phone?"

He tried plugging the other end of the wire into his smart phone. Much to his surprise, this one fit! The phone beeped, and the screen showed a download meter. When the new app and the Enemy Index upgrade finished downloading and installing, he and Dr. Andonuts disconnected the wires, and Dr. Andonuts changed the configuration on the computer screen to some sort of control centre for the Skyrunner Mark II. Now all that was left to do was wait for the others to arrive here...

--Dr. Andonuts' "Quest Inventory"--
- Starmen bad. Might be under an evil influence.
- Could that evil influence be the "Cosmic Destroyer" Ness and friends defeated long ago?
- Aurora Mysteria activity = enemy appearances.
- Find stolen music box pieces.
- Check out what the deal is with the seven gear spots on the map.
- Investigate southern Quetzal for high aurora activity.
- Ditch the animals for now. You'll see them again later.

As Bowie rolls out of bed, his clock radio switches on by itself. (Nobody can tell you..) He brushes his teeth and looks into a mirror as the song keeps going. (You've gotta, maaake your own kind of music. Siiing your own special sooong) Bowie picks out his clothes and starts thinking about breakfast. (Make your own kind of music, even if nobody else sings along!) A scream comes from outside and Bowie quickly turns the radio off. He grabs his clothing and backpack and rushes out of the door!

Bowie is relieved to find that no one is in immediate danger, it just appears that an army of fire ants is carrying a picnic basket. Unfortunately the hundreds of ants are marching straight toward him! Thinking fast, Bowie leaps into the nearby shallow pond to evade the bugs. They do not seem to notice him and pass by with the picnic basket in their posesssion. The local wildlife had recently become very aggresive and Bowie was not about to take any chances!

Soaking wet, Bowie stands up in the knee high water and notices a snow white kittey cat. The cat begins speaking, "Come on, we need to go!" The feline says urgently. Bowie is still drenched, so he truns the animal down, "Sorry, but, I am all wet!" The cat tries again. "Nevermind that! We have to hurry, the future of the planet could be in jeopordy! Just grab my tail!" Bowie was not entirely comfortable with the idea but the cat seemed to know what it was talking about. He grabs the tail but braces himself to get scratched.

"We're already late, now hang on tight!" The cat takes off running like a rocket and it is all that Bowie can do but to keep his grip! Bowies boots drag on the ground as if he were jet skiing, except they are zipping along a busy concrete street! The cat collides with a pizza delivery van but by some miracle they are unharmed! Bowie and the cat only stop in place for a few minutes looking silly and burnt. "Sorry, not enough room." The animal apologizes, before picking up speed and trying again. After 8 more crash and burns, the pair finally teleports successfully and arrive at Saturn valley.

"Whah, where are we?" Bowie asks disoriented. "No time, quick this way!" The cat leads the way past some Mr. Saturns to a lab where there are a bunch of other people and a closet full of items. "Hi everyone, I'm Bowie!" He greets the group before claiming one of the wolverine claws and taking a seat in the unusual flying object.

Oh great, Yako's over to raise up some hell. Cal looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his still stingy nose, as if preoccupied with something of incredible importance. Didnt change the good Yako's direction though. Calvin's stomach went all twisty turny in his belly as Yako opened his maw and... Said hello. O-Oh. Calvin turned to Yako slowly, peering at him out of the corner of his eyes at first before his body followed. He looked down at Yakos extended hand and slapped it. Just gone and slapped it, like a friendly side-high five. "Aye, my name's Calvin." He drawled. Short pause. "I have a turtle in my hat." He added, sliding his snowhat offa his head. And there Exposition sat, nestled into Cal's mess of hair all snug like, where he gave Yako a wave. Before he could ask how he'd wrassled a table and if Yako could teach him how to do the same, Dr. Andonuts started talking. Calvin listened to the good doctor quietly, giving his shoes a good, close examination during the whole time.

He didnt have much to say, so he just chilled out and paid attention. His thoughts wandered every now and then, usually followed by some absentminded thigh drumming, but that stopped soon after the Saturn house started to shake. After that, Calvin looked down to hide the exceptional red in his cheeks.

And oh, no way was Calvin ditching' this lil' guy, nope nope no way at all. Calvin had given his turtle friend a name, and once you name something, you best be taking damn good care of it. Even if it was an obtusely silly name like Exposition Dump. Now, 'good care' doesnt equal ditching your well named buddy, so Mr. Exposition was coming along with them! He seems to know a bit about the mess going down Of course, the turtle can fit under Calvin's hat, so it probably wasnt as much a big deal as Calvin's inner narration is making it out to be. Turns out, the turtle'd gone and left on his own without consulting Calvin and well yknow, I guess that's alright too. Calvin pulled his snow hat down all the way, now with enough space inside for his head.

Okay, time for presents. It wouldnt make up for losing his buddy Exposition Dump, but at least it'd be something nice? I'm going to the rainforest, soooo I should probably get something for the rainforest. Calvin thought with all the redundancy in the world. He picked up the frying pan and looked its dented surface all over. Huh. Maybe it could be a drying pan. He put it on his head and hummed. Keep dry real good. But that's why he has a hat. Soooo, back in the closet with ya. Next thing he picked up was an airhorn, which went off as someone bumped inna Calvin. He dropped it back into the pile and it took several minutes to find the thing again. Hmmm, Calvin wouldnt have much use for it. He's not one to call attention to himself, and that's what airhorns are all about. Maybe Yako could have a yelling contest with it. He showed it to the table rassler, attempting to get his attention with a "Yoh." It probably failed.

Next in the pile was the wooden baseball bat. The first thought Calvin got in his head was how useful it'd be incase his cricket bat snapped. The second thought involved duel wielding, and that was enough for him to make his decision. Now, it's probably a better idea to bring the metal bat, as metal has a harder time breaking on contact with hard, angry, possibly even berserking surfaces, but Cal's gotta keep with themes. He has a wood cricket bat in one hand, so he has to keep with the idea of wood and snag the wooden bat. That and it felt far more natural in his hand than the metal one. Maybe Calvin's just being silly, but taking the metal bat over the wood felt like he were shattering some previously set idea, or important thematic that ran through an entire story or something. He couldnt be sure, so he didnt take any chances in the matter. Wood bat it is.

And then Calvin sorta stood around all awkward like, waiting for more people to get aboard the Skyrunner before he did. Because. Actually, he'll wait up for Yako. Make sure he gets on first, so there were no surprise trees in the face.

Tekina smiled. "Thanks, Gon. Hope Ari is found as well." Though they were tecnicaly rivals, The girl found herself warming up to Gon. Tekina then looked over at the closet. When she walked over to get a better look, Tekina saw it.

The whip. "Whoa..." She said to herself. She could dish out some REAL dmage with this! Tekina picked it up, wrapped it around the handle, and put it in her satchel.

Then, Tekina remembered that she must leave the horse behind when she left. The girl walked outside to meet it. The horse stared and said "I promise that, if needed, I shall arrive to help you, Tekina. Until then, take this." The horse then gave Tekina a small charm. "For your necklace. If you ever need to talk to me, make a wish upon the charm and, wherever you may be, I can speak to you." Tekina smiled at the horse. "Thank you!" The horse nodded after the charm was on the necklace. "I wish you luck, and that your sister is found." The girl smiled, then hugged the horse. It's golden mane shone in the light, while the pur white coat sparkled.

AND I AM THE MOST DERP GURL, YOU HAVE EVER SEEN

Did u know that if you put your finger in your ear and move it up and down, it sounds like Pacman?

"Winters. Nieve to be exact. Quetzal word for 'snow', makes sense considering there's a shitload of Quetzals around there. I should know, my dad's half-Quetzal." Gale replied, stroking Diego's face with two of her fingers rather shamelessly. Diego knew of Nieve. He been there before as a teenager. However, when she began stroking his face, he became a very deep shade of red. She then used both her fingers to pinch his cheek lightly, before chuckling to herself. Diego began even redder with wide eyes.

Diego began to pay attention to good doctor's explanation. "I'm sure you have all heard the announcements regarding these," said the inventor, indicating his Starman drawing. "Believe it or not, I've seen these Starmen before, a long time ago. The Aurora Mysteria was a peculiar occurrence, but it didn't cause me much worry until the Starmen arrived. Because you see, a profound evil force overtook the world in the past, and these Starmen appeared to be its underlings. In fact, a couple of you have been wondering about this picture on my desk..." He indicated the picture of the three boys and the girl. "These four kids were the ones responsible for destroying this unspeakable evil force." He seemed to shudder at the mention of such an evil force, afraid to speak its name if it had one.

"In fact," Dr. Andonuts continued, "three of them were able to use PSI. The fourth... the fourth was my son Jeff, who, well..." He couldn't say any more about his missing son--a tear ran down his cheek at the mention of him, and a Mr. Saturn prompty handed him a tissue. "A-a-anyway, I find it curious that you all appeared here in the middle of this confounding conundrum. It almost makes me wonder if destiny had something in store for all of you in relation to the aurora's appearance. Of course, because I am a scientist, I am skeptical of destiny being the only factor at work here. In the past it seemed to be friendship that tied the four "chosen ones" together, but I doubt you know each other hardly at all, do you? However, the fact that you all arrived here with animals may have something to do with it... These animals are not your pets, I presume?"

Diego was digesting what the old man said. He was thinking of the 4 kids that were in the photo. They definitely seemed like good people. He would have loved to meet them. He then began showing them the locations of the gears as well as the hotspots of activity. From what Diego could gather, they would have to go and get these seven gears. Much like Ness and his friends, they were now chosen Diego nodded, but then the good doctor asked him and Gon to follow him.

They followed him down. They went past his inventions and such until they stopped. "I brought you two here first because I have something special to give to both of you." He took a quick glance over his shoulder. "First to Diego, since these computers are still booting up. So, Diego, I hear you are skilled with clockwork, eh? Ah, it brings back memories of when I watched young Jeff tinkering with gadgets in a similar fashion..." He sighed. "Well anyway, it is because of your expertise with simple mechanical gadgets, especially those involving gears, that I wanted to entrust you with this."

He handed Diego the empty music box he had shown to everyone before. Additionally, he handed him a couple of little gears that he had been keeping as spare parts for it. "It is my hope that if and when you all find the pieces of this music box, that you will be able to put it back together. When you do, I'd like to hear it play once more."

Diego nodded as he put the music box and the little extra gears. He wondered what was the song held. He swore he saw the grinning faces of the 4 children look at him for a brief moment. Oh well. "All right, sir. But... all this with PSI... it reminds be of an experiment. This professor adopted me years ago. One day, I decided to participate in an experiment. Due to... unforeseen factors and a course of action on my part, I seem to have... disqualified myself or rather forced prevented myself from developing PSI..." Diego said in nostalgia. He went back up and he sat next to Gale once more, growing red.

Kyornik Arrluk
Dr. Andonuts’ lab
After Dr. Andonut’s made his announcement, Kyornik got up from the table to have a look around at the closet’s contents. “Cool, a yoyo”. I haven’t played with one of those since I was 12. I wonder if I can still make it sleep and do the baby cradle trick.” he thought. In all honesty, the yoyo definitely would be of no use to him in a fight, so he quickly dismissed the thought. Next was the metal bat. As he picked it up and examined it, he thought of some of the dangerous animals that may be lurking around. The first to come to his mind was a jaguar, and he shuddered at the thought of it sneaking up on him. It was decided then. The metal bat would be his weapon of choice.
After choosing said weapon, he excused himself from the rest of the group to tell Atka what was happening.

“So yeah, we’re heading off to Quetzal to investigate the Mysteria and we’ll be getting there by one of Dr. Andonut’s inventions, the Sky Runner. This should be really cool. What are you going to do now?”
“I will return to my pod now. They have been beckoning me to come back. Apparently, they’ve stumbled onto a group of elephant seals and the young ones need schooling in the art of hunting with Psi.” “So yeah, about Psi, I can use it too. Thanks to my conversation with Gale and Tekina I now know exactly what this mysterious power I wield is. What kind of Psi can you use Atka? I figured you could use it since you can talk to me telepathically and you can teleport. My Psi is called Pk Aura”. “I am fully aware of your power, and I can use several forms of Psi. Because you must be leaving soon, I am unable to explain all forms of Psi to you, but I will educate you on one in particular. Stand back.”
Kyornik stood a couple of feet away from the hot spring housing the large cetacean, and watched in amazement as suddenly the air got cold. Atka’s white eye patch turned an azure hue and his eyes shined brightly in a similar fashion. The Saturns swimming around began to feel uncomfortable by the sudden chill and walked down the ladder from the springs in single file carrying inner tubes, beach balls and empty but oddly shaped drink glasses. Kyornik looked up, and could see his breath. The temperature dropped pretty rapidly, as frost was starting to form on the bathrobe. Kyornik could hear the bellowing thoughts of Atka yell Pk Freeze!! From Atka’s maw, came the shriek of a great orca on the hunt. (Imagine Kyogre’s cry) From this shriek, an azure flash of light radiated from Atka’s body and a gale of Polar air swept through the valley. Aaaagh!! , cried Kyornik, as he was swept off his feet and knocked to the bottom of the ladder.

The brumal gale crept through the valley. One house was unlucky enough to have a window on the upper floor open, and the snowy gust made its way through the house. ch-ch-ch-ch-ch chilly zoom. off ac unit boing, said one of the residents to the other. N-n-n-n-n-no have ac zoom, said the other resident. Frost coated the windows of every house and snow lined the trees. Kyornik got up wincing in pain from the fall, as he had landed on his side. “Ow! I think he overdid it a bit.” When he looked up the sky was grey and snowing. Kyornik looked down the valley, to see the swimming Saturns all huddled together shivering. “Hope they’re ok,” he thought to himself. Kyornik reached out to climb the ladder and saw that it was completely frozen. As he got up near the spring, there were 4 large ice pillars jutting from the spring around Atka. There was a very small ring of unfrozen water around Atka. “Wow!” The sight was breathtaking. The whole area looked like a winter wonderland. It was really cool, and it reminded him of his home in Winters. A sense of nostalgia came over him despite the biting cold.

This is the Psi of my pod, Pk freeze. I think the name speaks for itself. “Beautiful, simply beautiful”,said Kyornik “ As pulchritudinous as it looks, do not be fooled.It is very destructive. This Psi calls upon the gelid winds of the Poles themselves and unleashes it upon the enemy, eroding life and reducing them to flecks of frost to be scattered endlessly. This was what I used to save you from the lighthouse back in Summers. Do you think you can handle it? What do you mean? If you make this pact with me, you will be able contact me anytime as well as wield the Psi of my pod. I accept Atka, but why me? I saw the entire event in Summers unfold. From when you saved your classmates during the earthquake to you defending your friend from the lighthouse anchor. You know you possess the power to protect and you use it for that purpose. I deem you worthy. Now, you must know that once the process starts there is no turning back. It is a life threatening endeavor. Kyornik thought about it, and remembered the words Gon told him as well as his experience earlier that day. I’ll do it! Place your hand on my head and let the branding pact commence.

Kyornik placed his right hand on the orcas head, and felt a cold surge of energy run up his arm and burrow into his bicep. AAAGH!!! Kyornik’s arm felt cold and numb, but the area where the energy coalesced burned sharply. He tried to remove his hand, but the energy kept him attached. You must bare it Kyornik. Bare it lest it destroy you!! AAAGH!! The blue energy burned through his skin branding him with an orca tattoo on his right bicep. It is over! Kyornik raised his arm and stared in horror as his right arm was frozen solid and black from turning gangrene. Atka glanced at his arm and silver psi bolts pulsated along Kyornik’s arms healing him. The pain immediately subsided and he could once again move his arm. He tested this by opening and closing his hands into a fist.
That was intense! Now, the healing I have done is only temporary. Until you realize the Psi, your arm will begin to erode once more. Realize the psi? You mean I still can’t use it? The realization process is your body working its way to master and house the power. The realization process may be very painful in this case, but you must work through it in order to use it.” I don’t remember having to go through anything like that when I learned Pk au… Hmm, actually now that I think back, I did get a nasty fever before I was aware I could use it. Now, I must leave. And like that, Atka dove down into the springs and was gone.

All right, time to gear up and get going. All the snow and ice around the valley made Kyornik deeply miss his home in Winters. He looked up at the snowy sky with a big grin in his face, threw his head back, closed his eyes, took a deep breath through his nostrils and started to whistle the song Snowman, (a famous song from Winters) as he walked back toward Dr. Saturn’s house to change into his normal clothes. He entered the house, changed into his freshly dried clothes and said farewell to Dr. Saturn. After that he headed back to the lab.. By then, the valley warmed up again and everything started to revert back to its normal state. He entered the lab and took a seat in the Sky Runner ready to depart.